UC-NRLF 


B  M  s?a 

UEL. 


C.WILLIAM  SIEMENS,  D.C.L'.,  F.R.S. 

TO   WHICH   IS   APPENDED   THE 

VALUE  OF  ARTIFICIAL  FUELS 


COMPARED  WITH  COAL. 


JOHN  WORMAL^,  C.  E. 


NEW    YORK: 

IX    VAN   NOSTRAND,   PUBLISHER, 
23  MURRAY  AND  27  \VARREN  STREET. 

1874. 


VAN  NOSTRAND'S  SCIENCE  SERIES,  - 


^f.     f\    1                                    ^^ 

R^ACES,     FIRE- 
lOILERS.    By 
> 

DNS.     By  ZE- 

fT  < 

4    5 

/f)            PH       \ 
(L/                  ,     '    So\ 

r          U     QQ) 

DF  RETAIN- 
i  JACOB,  A.  B, 
i     USED    IN 
BENDER,  C.  E. 

:NGS.  ByW. 

<   :3'vl 

CONSTRUC- 
ESERVOIRS. 

^ 

>  —  <               fr(       ^S 

DIFFERENT 
ffG-    WALLS. 

COMPOUND 
BULL,  Jr. 

rf\                        J>l                                 \\ 

w               V 

W         w     i     ,g  '. 

w    1    1 

IENS,    D.  C.  L. 

VALUE   OF 
COMPARED 

ORMALD,  C.  E. 
ranslated  from 
With  Illustra- 

^        1 

By  PROF.  W. 

D 

^.c.                 -                                 *2v 

[R  ARCHES. 
1       )AL   MINES. 

No.  14.— FRICTION  OF  AIR  IN  MINES.     By  J.  J. 
ATKINSON. 

No.  15.-  SKEW  AROHES.  By  PROP.  E.  W.  HYDE, 
C.  E.  Illustrated. 

No.  16.— A  GRAPHIC  METHOD  FOR  SOLVING 
CERTAIN  ALGEBRAICAL  EQUA- 
TIONS. By  PROF.  GEORGE  L.  VOSK. 
With  Illustrations. 


VAN  NOSTMNDJUCIENCE  SERIES. 

No.  17.— WATER  AND  WATER  SUPPLY  By 
PROF.  W.  II.  CORFIELD,  M.  A.,  of  the 
University  College,  London. 

No.  18.— SEWERAGE  AND  SEWAGE  UTILI- 
ZATION. By  PROF.  W.  H.  COJIFIELD, 
M.  A.,  of  the  University  College,  Lon- 
don. 

No.  19. -STRENGTH  OF  BEAMS  UNDER 
TRANSVERSE  LOADS.  By  PROF. 
W.  ALLEN,  Author  of  "  Theory  of 
Arches."  With  Illustrations. 

No.  20  —BRIDGE    AND  TUNNEL    CENTRES. 

By  JOHN  B.  MCMASTERS,  C.  E.     With 

Illustrations. 
No.  21.— SAFETY  VALVES.      By  RICHARD    H." 

BUEL,  C.  E.     With  Illustrations. 

No.  22  —HIGH  MASONRY  DAMS.  By  JOHN  B. 
MCMASTERS,  C.  E.  With  Illustrations. 

No.  23.— THE  FATIGUE  OF  METALS  UNDER 
REPEATED  STRAINS,  with  various 
Tables  of  Results  of  Experiments.  From 
the  German  of  PROF.  LUDWIG  SPANGEN- 
BERG.  With  a  Preface  by  S.  H.  SHREVE, 
A.  M.  With  Illustrations. 

No.  24.— A  PRACTICAL  TREATISE  ON  THE 
TEETH  OF  WHEELS,  with  the  Theo- 
ry of  the  Use  of  Robinson's  Odonto- 
graph.  By  S.  W.  ROBINSON,  Prof,  of 
Mechanical  Engineering.  Illinois  In- 
dustrial University. 

No.  25.— THEORY  AND  CALCULATIONS  OF 
CONTINUOUS  BRIDGES.  By  MANS- 
FIELD MERRIMAN,  C.  E.  With  Illustra- 
tions. 

No.  2G.— PRACTICAL  TREATISE  ON  THE 
PROPERTIES  OF  CONTINUOUS 
BRIDGES.  By  CHARLES  BENDER,  C.  E . 

No.  27.— ON  BOILER  INCRUSTATION  AND 
CORROSION.  By  F.  J.  ROWAN. 


FUEL. 

BY 

C.WILLIAM  SIEMENS,  D.C.L.,  P.R.S. 
ij 

TO  WHICH  IS  APPENDED  THE 

VALUE  OF  ARTIFICIAL  FUELS 


AS 


COMPAKED  WITH  COAL. 


JOHN  WORMALD,  C.  E. 


NEW    YOEK: 
D.   VAN  NOSTRAND,  PUBLISHER, 

23  MURRAY  AND  27  WARREN  STREET. 

1874. 


ON"   FUEL. 


In  accepting  the  invitation  of  the  Council 
of  the  British  Association  to  deliver  an  ad- 
dress to  the  operative  classes  of  this  great 
industrial  district,  I  felt  that  I  was  under- 
taking no  easy  task.  Having  to  speak  on 
behalf  of  the  Association,  and  in  the  pres- 
ence of  many  of  its  most  distinguished 
members,  I  am  bound  to  treat  my  subject 
scientifically ;  but  I  have  to  bear  in  mind  at 
the  same  time  that  I  am  addressing  myself 
to  men  unquestionably  of  good  intelligence, 
but  without  that  scientific  training  which 
has  almost  created  a  language  of  its  own. 

It  is  no  consolation  for  me  to  think  that 
those  who  have  taken  a  similar  task  upon 
themselves  in  former  years,  have  admirably 
succeeded  in  divesting  highly  scientific  sub- 
jects of  the  formalism  in  which  they  are 


4 


habitually  clothed.  The  very  names  of 
these  men — Tyndall,  Huxley,  Miller,  Lub- 
bock,  and  Spottiswoode — are  such  as  to 
preclude  in  me  all  idea  of  rivalry,  but  I 
hope  to  profit  by  their  example,  and  to  re- 
member that  truth  must  always  be  simple, 
and  that  it  is  only  where  knowledge  is  im- 
perfect that  scientific  formulae  must  take  the 
place  of  plain  statements. 

The  subject  matter  of  my  discourse  is 
"  Fuel ;  "  a  matter  with  which  every  one  of 
us  has  become  familiarized  from  his  in- 
fancy, but  which  nevertheless  is  but  little 
understood  even  by  those  who  are  most 
largely  interested  in  its  applications  ;  it  in- 
volves considerations  of  the  highest  a  priori 
interest,  both  from  a  scientific  and  a  practi- 
cal point  of  view. 

I  purpose  to  arrange  my  subject  under 
five  pricipal  heads : — 

1.  What  is  fuel? 

2.  Whence  is  fuel  derived  ? 

3.  How  should  fuel  be  used  ? 

4.  The  coal  question  of  the  day  ? 

5.  Wherein  consists  the  fuel  of  the  sun  ? 


WHAT  IS  FUEL  ? 

Some  of  you  may  have  already  said  within 
yourselves  that  it  is  but  wasted  time  to  en- 
large upon  such  a  theme,  since  all  know 
that  fuel  is  coal  drawn  from  the  earth,  from 
deposits,  with  which  this  country  especially 
has  been  bountifully  supplied ;  why  disturb 
our  plain  understanding  by  scientific  defini- 
tions which  will  neither  reduce  the  cost  of 
coal,  nor  make  it  last  longer  on  our  domes- 
tic hearth? 

Yet  I  must  claim  your  patience  for  a 
little,  lest,  if  we  do  not  first  agree  upon  the 
essential  nature  of  fuel,  we  may  afterwards 
be  at  variance  in  discussing  its  origin  and 
its  uses,  the  latter  at  any  rate  being  of 
practical  interest,  and  a  subject  worthy  of 
your  most  attentive  consideration. 

Fuel,  then,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation 
of  the  term,  is  carbonaceous  matter,  which 
may  be  in  the  solid,  the  liquid,  or  in  the 
gaseous  condition,  and  which,  in  combining 
with  oxygen,  gives  rise  to  the  phenomenon 
of  heat.  Commonly  speaking,  this  develop- 
ment of  heat  is  accompanied  by  flame,  be- 
cause the  substance  produced  in  combustion 


6 


is  gaseous.  In  burning  coal,  for  instance, 
on  a  fire-grate,  the  oxygen  of  the  atmos- 
phere enters  into  combination  with  the 
solid  carbon  of  the  coal  and  produces  car- 
bonic acid,  a  gas  which  enters  the  atmos- 
phere, of  which  it  forms  a  necessary  con- 
stituent, since  without  it,  the  growth  of 
trees  and  other  plants  would  be  impossible. 
But  combustion  is  not  necessarily  accom- 
panied by  flame,  or  even  by  a  display  of 
intense  heat.  The  metal  magnesium  burns 
with  a  great  display  of  light  and  heat,  but 
without  flame,  because  the  product  of  com- 
bustion is  not  a  gas  but  a  solid,  viz.,  oxide 
of  magnesium.  Again,  metallic  iron,  if  in 
a  finely  divided  state,  ignites  when  exposed 
to  the  atmosphere,  giving  rise  to  the 
phenomena  of  heat  and  light  without  flame, 
because  the  result  of  combustion  is  iron 
oxide  or  rust ;  but  the  same  iron,  if  pre- 
sented to  the  atmosphere — more  especially 
to  a  damp  atmosphere — in  a  solid  condition, 
does  not  ignite,  but  is  nevertheless  gradually 
converted  into  metallic  oxide  or  rust  as 
before. 

Here,  then,  we  have  combination  without 


the  phenomena  either  of  flame  or  light; 
but  by  careful  experiment  we  should  find 
that  heat  is  nevertheless  produced,  and 
that  the  amount  of  heat  so  produced  pre- 
cisely equals  that  obtained  more  rapidly  in 
exposing  pulverulent  iron  to  the  action  of 
oxygen.  Only,  in  the  latter  case  the  heat 
is  developed  by  slow  degrees,  and  is  dis- 
persed as  soon  as  produced,  whereas  in  the 
former  the  rate  of  production  exceeds  the 
rate  of  dispersion,  and  heat,  therefore,  ac- 
cumulates to  the  extent  of  raising  the  mass 
to  redness.  It  is  evident  from  these  ex- 
periments that  we  have  to  widen  our  con- 
ception, and  call  fuel  "  any  substance  which 
is  capable  of  entering  into  combination 
with  another  substance,  and  in  so  doing 
gives  rise  to  the  phenomenon  of  heat." 

In  thus  defining  fuel,  it  might  appear  at 
first  sight  that  we  should  find  upon  our 
earth  a  great  variety,  and  an  inexhaustible 
supply  of  substances  that  might  be  ranged 
under  this  head ;  but  a  closer  investigation 
will  soon  reveal  the  fact,  that  its  supply  is, 
comparatively  speaking,  extremely  limited. 

In  looking  at  the  solid  crust  of  the  earth, 


8 


we  find  it  to  be  composed  for  the  most  part 
of  siliceous,  calcareous,  and  magneceous 
rock ;  the  former,  silica,  consisting  of  the 
metal  silicon  combined  with  oxygen,  is  not 
fuel,  but  rather  a  burnt  substance  which 
has  parted  with  its  heat  of  combustion  ages 
ago ;  the  second,  limestone,  being  carbonate 
of  lirue,  or  the  combination  of  two  sub- 
stances, viz.,  calcic  oxide  and  carbonic  acid, 
both  of  which  are  essentially  products  of 
combustion,  the  one  of  the  metal  calcium, 
and  the  other  of  carbon;  and  the 
third,  magnesia,  a  combination  of  oxygen 
with  the  metal  magnesium  (which  I  have 
just  burnt  before  you),  and  which,  further 
combined  with  lime,  constitutes  dolomite 
rock,  of  which  the  Alps  are  mainly  compos- 
ed. All  the  commoner  metals,  such  as  iron, 
zinc,  tin,  aluminium,  sodium,  etc.,  we  find 
in  nature  in  an  oxidized  or  burnt  condition ; 
and  the  only  metallic  substances  that  have 
resisted  the  intense  oxidizing  action  that 
must  have  prevailed  at  one  period  of  the 
earth's  creation  are  the  so-called  precious 
metals,  gold,  platinum,  iridium,  and  to 
eome  extent  also  silver  and  copper.  Ex- 


9 


cepting  these,  coal  alone  presents  itself  as 
carbon  and  hydrogen  in  an  unoxidized  con- 
dition. But  what  about  the  oceans  of  water, 
which  have  occasionally  been  cited  as  re- 
presenting a  vast  store  of  heat-producing 
power  ready  for  our  use  when  coal  shall  be 
exhausted.  Not  many  months  ago,  indeed, 
on  the  occasion  of  a  water  gas  company 
being  formed,  statements  to  this  effect 
could  be  seen  in  some  of  our  leading  papers. 
Nothing,  however,  could  be  more  fallacious. 
When  hydrogen  burns,  doubtless  a  great 
development  of  heat  ensues,  but  water  is 
already  the  result  of  this  combustion  (which 
took  place  upon  our  globe  before  the  ocean 
was  formed),  and  the  separation  of  these 
two  substances  would  take  precisely  the 
same  amount  of  heat  as  was  originally 
produced  in  their  combustion.  It  will  thus 
be  seen  that  both  the  solid  and  fluid  con- 
stituents of  our  earth,  with  the  exception  of 
coal,  of  naphtha  (which  is  a  mere  modifica- 
tion of  coal),  and  the  precious  metals,  are 
products  of  combustion,  and  therefore  the 
very  reverse  of  fuel.  Our  earth  may  indeed 
be  looked  upon  as  "  a  ball  of  cinder,  rolling 


10 


unceasingly  through  space,"  but  happily  in 
company  with  another  celestial  body — the 
sun, — whose  glorious  beams  are  the  physi- 
cal cause  of  everything  that  moves  and 
lives,  or  that  has  the  power  within  itself  of 
imparting  life,  or  motion  on  our  earth.  This 
invigorating  influence  is  made  perceptible 
to  our  senses  in  the  form  of  heat,  but  it  is 
fair  to  ask,  what  is  heat,  that  it  should  be 
capable  of  coming  to  us  from  the  sun,  and 
of  being  treasured  up  in  our  fuel  deposits 
both  below  and  on  the  surfa.ce  of  the 
earth? 

If  this  inquiry  had  been  put  to  me  30 
years  ago,  I  should  have  been  much  per- 
plexed. By  reference  to  books  on  Physical 
Science,  I  should  have  learnt  that  heat  wag 
a  subtle  fluid  which,  somehow  or  other,  had 
taken  up  its  residence  in  the  fuel,  and 
which,  upon  ignition  of  the  latter,  was 
sallying  forth  either  to  vanish  or  to  abide 
elsewhere  ;  but  I  should  not  have  been  able 
to  associate  the  two  ideas  of  combustion  and 
development  of  heat  by  any  intelligible 
principle  in  nature,  or  to  suggest  any  pro- 
cess by  which  it  could  have  been  derived 


11 


from  the  sun  and  petrified,  or,  as  the  empty 
phrase  ran,  rendered  latent  in  the  fuel. 

It  is  by  the  labors  of  Mayer,  Joule,  and 
other  modern  physicists,  that  we  are  ena- 
bled to  give  to  heat  its  true  significance. 

Heat,  according  to  the  u  dynamical 
theory,"  is  neither  more  nor  less  than 
motion  amongst  the  particles  of  the  sub- 
stance heated,  which  motion,  when  once 
produced,  may  be  changed  in  its  direction 
and  its  nature,  and  thus  be  converted  into 
mechanical  effect,  expressible  in  foot  pounds, 
or  horse  power.  By  intensifying  this  mo- 
tion among  the  particles,  it  is  made  evident 
to  our  visual  organ  by  the  emanation  of 
light,  which  again  is  neither  more  nor  less 
than  vibratory  motion  imparted  by  the 
ignited  substance  to  the  medium  separating 
us  from  the  same.  According  to  this  theory, 
which  constitutes  one  of  the  most  important 
advances  in  science  of  the  present  century, 
heat,  light,  electricity,  and  chemical  action 
are  only  different  manifestations  of  "  energy 
of  matter,"  mutually  convertible,  but  as 
indestructible  as  matter  itself. 

Energy  exists  in  two  forms,  "dynamic" 


12 


or  "  kinatic  energy,"  or  force  manifesting' 
itself  to  our  senses  as  weight  in  motion,  as 
sensible  heat,  or  as  an  active  electrical  cur- 
rent; and  "  potential  energy,"  or  force  in  a 
dormant  condition.  In  illustration  of  these 
two  forms  of  energy,  I  will  take  the  case  of 
lifting  a  weight,  say  one  pound  one  foot 
high.  In  lifting  this  weight  kinatic,  mus- 
cular energy  has  to  be  exercised  in  over- 
coming the  force  of  gravitation  of  the  earth. 
The  pound  weight  when  supported  at  the 
higher  level  to  which  it  has  been  raised, 
represents  " potential  energy"  to  the  amount 
of  one  unit  or  "  foot  pound."  This  potential 
energy  may  be  utilized,  in  imparting  motion 
to  mechanism,  during  its  descent,  whereby 
•a  unit  amount  of  "  Work  "  is  accomplished. 
A  pound  of  carbon  then,  when  raised 
through  the  space  of  one  foot  from  the 
earth,  represents,  mechanically  speaking,  a 
unit  quantity  of  energy,  but  the  same 
pound  of  carbon  when  separated  or,  so  to 
speak,  lifted  away  from  oxygen,  to  which  it 
has  a  very  powerful  attraction,  is  capable 
of  developing  no  less  than  11,000,000  foot 
pounds  or  unit  quantities  of  energy  when- 


13 


ever  the  bar  to  their  combination,  namely, 
excessive  depression  of  temperature,  ia 
removed ;  in  other  words,  the  mechanical 
energy  set  free  in  the  combustion  of  1  Ib. 
of  pure  carbon  is  the  same  as  would  be 
required  to  raise  11,000,000  *  Ibs.  weight  1 
ft.  high,  or  as  would  sustain  the  work 
which  we  call  a  horse  power  during  5  hours 
33  min.  We  thus  arrive  at  once  at  the 
utmost  limit  of  work  which  we  can  ever 
hope  to  accomplish  by  the  combustion  of  1 
Ib.  of  carbonaceous  matter,  and  we  shall 
presently  see  how  far  we  are  still  removed 
in  our  practice  from,  this  limit  of  perfection. 
The  following  illustrations  will  show  the 
convertibility  of  the  different  forms  of 
energy.  If  I  let  the  weight  of  a  hammer 
descend  in  rapid  succession  upon  a  piece  of 
iron  it  becomes  hot,  and  on  beating  a  nail 


*  In  burning  1  Ib.  of  carbon  in  the  presence  of  free  oxygen, 
•carbonic  acid  is  produced  and  14,500  units  of  heat  (a  unit  of 
heat  is  1  Ib.  of  water  raised  through  1  deg.  Fah. )  are  liberated. 
Each  unit  of  heat  is  convertible  (as  proved  by  the  deductions 
of  Mayer  and  the  actual  measurements  of  Joule)  into  774 
units  of  force  or  mechanical  energy  ;  hence  1  Ib.  of  carbon 
represents  really  14,500x774=11,223,000  units  of  potential 
•energy. 


thus  vigorously  and  skilfully  for  a  minute 
it  will  be  red-hot.  In  this  case  the  mechanical 
force  developed  in  the  arm  (by  the  expendi- 
ture of  muscular  fibre)  is  converted  into 
heat.  Again,  in  rapidly  compressing  the 
air  in  a  fire  syringe,  ignition  of  a  piece  of 
tinder  is  obtained.  Again,  in  passing  an 
electrical  current  through  the  platinum 
wire  it  is  directly  converted  into  heat, 
which  is  manifested  by  ignition  of  the 
wire,  whereas  the  thermopile  gives  an 
illustration  of  the  conversion  of  heat  into 
electricity;  to  which  illustrations  many 
others  might  be  added.  The  heat  of  com- 
bustion being  the  result  of  the  chemical 
combination  of  two  substances,  does  it  not 
follow  that  oxygen  is  a  combustible  as  well 
as  the  carbonaceous  substance  which  goes 
by  the  name  of  fuel  ?  This  is,  unquestion- 
ably, the  case,  and  if  our  atmosphere  was 
composed  of  a  carbonaceous  gas,  we  should 
have  to  conduct  our  oxygen  through  tubes 
and  send  it  out  through  burners  to  supply  us 
with  light  and  heat,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
experiment  in  which  I  burn  a  jet  of  atmos- 
pheric air  in  a  transparent  globe  filled  with 


15 


common  lighting  gas ;  but  we  could  not 
exist  under  such  inverted  conditions,  and 
may  safely  strike  out  oxygen  and  analo- 
gous substances,  such  as  chlorine,  from  the 
list  of  fuels. 

We  now  approach  the  second  part  of  our 
inquiry — 

WHENCE  IS  FUEL  DERIVED  ? 

The  rays  of  the  sun  represent  energy  in 
the  form  of  heat  and  light,  which  is  com- 
municated to  our  earth  through  the  trans- 
parent medium  which  must  necessarily  fill 
the  space  between  us  and  our  great  lumi- 
nary. If  these  rays  fall  upon  the  growing 
plant,  their  effect  disappears  from  direct 
recognition  by  our  senses,  inasmuch  as  the 
leaf  does  not  become  heated  as  it  would  if 
it  were  made  of  iron  or  dead  wood,  but  we 
find  a  chemical  result  accomplished,  viz., 
earbonic  acid  gas,  which  has  been  absorbed 
by  the  leaf  of  the  tree  from  the  atmosphere, 
is  there  "  dissociated,"  or  separated  into  its 
elements,  carbon  and  oxygen,  the  oxygen 
being  returned  to  the  atmosphere,  and  the 
carbon  retained  to  form  the  solid  substance 
©f  the  tree. 


16 


The  sun  thus  imparts  11,000,000  units  of 
energy  to  the  tree  for  the  formation  of  1  Ib. 
of  carbon  in  the  shape  of  woody  fibre,  and 
these  11,000,000  units  of  energy  will  be 
simply  resuscitated  when  the  wood  is  burnt, 
or  again  combined  with  oxygen  to  form, 
carbonic  acid. 

Euel,  then,  is  derived  through  solar 
energy  acting  on  the  surface  of  our  earth. 

But  what  about  the  stores  of  mineral 
fuel,  of  coal,  which  we  find  within  its  folds  ? 
How  did  they  escape  the  general  combus- 
tion which,  as  we  have  seen,  has  consumed 
all  other  elementary  substances  ?  The  an- 
swer is  a  simple  one.  These  deposits  of 
mineral  fuel  are  the  results  of  primeval  for- 
ests, formed  in  the  manner  of  to-day,  through 
the  agency  of  solar  rays,  and  covered  over 
with  earthy  matter  in  the  many  inunda- 
tions and  convulsions  of  the  globe's  surface, 
which  must  have  followed  the  early  solidifi- 
cation of  its  surface.  Thus  our  deposits  of  coal 
may  be  looked  upon  as  the  accumulation  of 
potential  energy  derived  directly  from  the 
sun  in  former  ages,  or  as  George  Stephenson, 
with  a  sagacity  of  mind  in  advance  of  the 


17 


science  of  his  day,  answered,  when  asked 
what  was  the  ultimate  cause  of  motion  of 
his  locomotive  engine,  "  that  it  went  by  the 
bottled-up  rays  of  the  sun." 

It  follows  from  these  considerations  that 
the  amount  of  potential  energy  available 
for  our  use  is  confined  to  our  deposits  of 
coal,  which,  as  appears  from  the  exhaust- 
ive inquiries  lately  made  by  the  Royal  Coal 
Commission,  are  still  large  in  deed,  but  by  no 
means  inexhaustible,  if  we  bear  in  mind 
that  our  requirements  will  be  ever  on  the 
increase,  and  that  the  getting  of  coal  will 
become  from  year  to  year  more  difficult  as 
we  descend  to  greater  depth.  To  these 
stores  must  be  reckoned  lignite  and  peat, 
which,  although  not  coal,  are  nevertheless 
the  result  of  solar  energy,  attributable  to  a 
period  of  the  earth's  creation  subsequent  to 
the  formation  of  the  coal  beds,  but  anterior 
to  our  own  days.  These  fuels  may  be 
made  as  efficient  as  coal  if  properly  treated. 

In  discussing  the  necessity  of  using  our 
stores  of  fuel  more  economically,  I  have 
been  met  by  the  observation  that  we  need 
not  be  anxious  about  leaving  fuel  for  our 


18 


descendants — that  the  human  mind  would 
surely  invent  some  other  source  of  power 
when  coal  should  be  exhausted,  and  that 
such  a  source  would  probably  be  discovered 
in  electricity.  I  heard  such  a  suggestion 
publicly  made  only  a  few  weeks  back  at  a 
meeting  of  the  International  Jury  at  Vienna, 
and  could  not  refrain  from  calling  attention 
to  the  fact  that  electricity  is  only  another 
form  of  energy,  that  could  no  more  be 
created  by  man  than  heat  could,  and  in- 
volved the  same  recourse  to  our  accumulated 
stores. 

If  our  stores  of  coal  were  to  ebb,  we 
should  have  recourse,  no  doubt,  to  the  force 
radiating  from  the  sun  from  year  to  year, 
and  from  day  to  day ;  and  it  may  be  as  well 
for  us  to  consider  what  is  the  extent  of  that 
force,  and  what  are  our  means  of  gathering 
and  applying  it.  We  have,  then,  in  the 
first  place  the  accumulation  of  solar  energy 
upon  our  earth's  surface  by  the  decomposi- 
tion of  carbonic  acid  in  plants,  a  source 
which  we  know  by  experience  suffices  for 
the  human  requirements  in  thinly  populated 
countries,  where  industry  has  taken  only  a 


19 


slight  development.  Wherever  population 
accumulates,  however,  the  wood  of  the 
forest  no  longer  suffices  even  for  domestic 
requirements,  and  mineral  fuel  has  to  be 
transported  from  great  distances. 

The  sun's  rays  produce,  however,  other 
effects  besides  vegetation,  and  amongst 
these,  that  of  evaporation  is  the  most  im- 
portant as  a  source  of  available  power.  By 
the  solar  rays,  an  amount  of  heat  is  im- 
parted to  our  earth  that  would  evaporate 
yearly  a  layer  of  water  14  ft.  deep.  A  con- 
siderable proportion  of  this  heat  is  actually 
expended  in  evaporating  sea  water,  pro- 
ducing steam  or  vapor,  which  falls  back 
upon  the  entire  surface  of  both  land  and 
sea  in  the  form  of  rain.  The  portion  which 
falls  upon  the  elevated  land  flows  back 
towards  the  sea  in  the  form  of  rivers,  and 
in  its  descent  its  weight  may  be  utilized  to 
give  motion  to  machinery.  Water  power, 
therefore,  is  also  the  result  of  solar  energy, 
and  an  elevated  lake  may  indeed  be  looked 
upon  as  fuel,  in  the  sense  of  its  being  a 
weight  lifted  above  the  sea  level  through 
its  prior  expansion  into  steam. 


20 


This  source  of  power  has  also  been 
largely  resorted  to,  and  might  be  utilized 
to  a  still  greater  extent  in  mountainous 
countries ;  but  it  naturally  so  happens  that 
the  great  centres  of  industry  are  in  the 
plains,  where  the  means  of  transport  are 
easy,  and  the  total  amount  of  available 
water-power  in  such  districts  is  extremely 
limited. 

Another  result  of  solar  energy  are  the 
winds,  which  have  been  utilized  for  the 
production  of  power.  This  source  of  power 
is,  indeed,  very  great  in  the  aggregate,  but 
its  application  is  attended  with  very  great 
inconvenience.  It  is  proverbial  that  there 
is  nothing  more  uncertain  than  the  wind, 
and  when»we  were  dependent  upon  wind- 
mills for  the  production  of  flour,  it  often 
happened  that  whole  districts  were  without 
that  necessary  element  to  our  daily  ex- 
istence. 

Ships  also,  relying  upon  the  wind  for 
their  propulsion  through  the  sea,  are  of- 
ten becalmed  for  weeks,  and  so  gradually 
give  place  to  steam-power  on  account  of  its 
greater  certainty.  It  has  been  suggested 


21 


of  late  years  to  utilize  the  heat  of  the  sua 
by  the  accumulation  of  its  rays  into  a  focus 
by  means  of  gigantic  lenses,  and  to  estab- 
lish steam-boilers  in  such  foci.  This  would 
bo  a  most  direct  utilization  of  solar  energy, 
but  it  is  a  plan  which  would  hardly  recom- 
mend itself  in  this  country,  where  the  sun 
is  but  rarely  •  seen,  and  which  even  in  a 
country  like  Spain  would  hardly  be  pro- 
ductive of  useful  practical  results. 

There  is  one  more  natural  source  of 
energy  available  for  our  uses,  which  is 
rather  cosmical  than  solar — viz.,  the  tidal 
wave.  This  might  also  be  utilized  to  a 
very  considerable  extent  in  an  island  coun- 
try, facing  the  Atlantic  seas,  like  this,  but 
its  utilization  on  a  large  scale  is  connected 
with  great  practical  difficulty  and  ex- 
penditure, on  account  of  the  enormous  area 
of  tidal  basin  that  would  have  to  be  con- 
structed. 

In  passing  in  review  these  various 
sources  of  energy  which  are  still  available 
to1  us,  after  we  have  run  through  our  ac- 
cumulated capital  of  potential  energy  in 
the  shape  of  coal,  it  will  have  struck  you 


00 


that  none  of  them  would  at  all  supply  the 
place  of  our  willing  and  ever-ready  slave — 
the  steam-engine ;  nor  would  they  be  appli- 
cable to  our  purposes  of  locomotion,  al- 
though means  might  possibly  be  invented 
of  storing  and  carrying  potential  energy  in 
other  forms.  But  it  is  not  force  alone  that 
we  require,  but  heat  for  smelting  our  iron 
and  other  metals,  and  the  accomplishment 
of  other  chemical  processes.  We  also  need 
a  large  supply  for  our  domestic  purposes. 
It  is  true  that  with  an  abundant  supply  of 
mechanical  force  we  could  manufacture 
heat,  and  thus  actually  accomplish  all  our 
purposes  of  smelting,  cooking,  and  heating, 
without  the  use  of  any  combustible  matter  ; 
but  such  conversion  would  be  attended 
with  so  much  difficulty  and  expenditure 
that  one  cannot  conceive  human  prosperity 
under  such  laborious  and  artificial  con- 
ditions. 

We  come  now  to  the  question — 

'       HOW  SHOULD  FUEL  BE  USED  ? 

I  propose  to  illustrate  this  by  three  ex- 
amples which  are  typical  of  the  three  great 
branches  of  consumption : 


23 


a.  The  production  of  steam  power. 

b.  The  domestic  hearth. 

c.  The  metallurgical  furnace. 

Steam  Engine  Consumption. — I  have  re- 
presented on  a  diagram  two  steam  cylinders 
of  the  same  internal  dimensions,  the  one 
being  what  is  called  a  high-pressure  steam 
cylinder,  provided  with  the  ordinary  slide 
valve  for  the  admission  of  steam  and  its 
subsequent  discharge  into  the  atmosphere, 
and  the  other  so  arranged  as  to  use  the  steam 
expansively  (being  provided  with  the  Corliss 
variable  expansion  gear)  and  working  in 
connection  with  a  condenser.  I  have  also 
shown  two  diagrams  of  the  steam  pressures 
at  each  part  of  the  stroke,  assuming  in  both 
oases  the  same  initial  steam  pressure  of  60 
Ibs.  per  square  inch  above  the  atmospheric 
pressure,  and  the  same  load  upon  the  en- 
gine. They  show  that  in  the  latter  case  the 
same  amount  of  work  is  accomplished  by 
filling  the  cylinder,  roughly  speaking,  up  to 
\  part  of  the  length  as  in  the  other  by  fill- 
ing it  entirely.  Here  we  have  then  an  easy 
and  feasible  plan  of  saving  f  of  the  fuel 
used  in  working  an  ordinary  high-pressure 


24 


engine,  and  yet  probably  the  greater  num- 
ber of  the  engines  now  actually  at  work  are 
of  the  wasteful  type.  Nor  are  the  indica- 
tions of  theory  in  this  case  (or  in  any  other 
when  properly  interpreted)  disproved  by- 
practice  ;  on  the  contrary,  an  ordinary  non- 
expansive  non-condensing  engine  requires 
commonly  a  consumption  of  from  10  to  12 
Ibs.  per  horse  power  per  hour,  whereas  a 
good  expansive  and  condensing  engine  ac- 
complishes the  same  amount  of  work  with  2 
Ibs.  of  coal  per  hour,  the  reason  for  the  still 
greater  economy  being,  that  the  cylinder  of 
the  good  engine  is  properly  protected  by 
means  of  a  steam  jacket  and  lagging  against 
loss  by  condensation  within  the  working 
cylinder,  and  that  more  care  is  generally 
bestowed  upon  the  boiler  and  the  parts  of 
the  engine,  to  insure  their  proper  working 
condition. 

A  striking  illustration  of  what  can  be  ac- 
complished in  a  short  space  of  time  was 
brought  to  light  by  the  Institute  of  Mechan- 
ical Engineers,  over  which  I  have  at  pres- 
ent the  honor  to  preside.  In  holding  their 
annual  general  meeting  in  Liverpool  in 


25 


1863,  they  instituted  a  careful  inquiry  into 
the  consumption  of  coal  by  the  best  engines 
in  the  Atlantic  Steam  Service,  and  the  re- 
sult showed  that  it  fell  in  no  case  below  4i 
Ibs.  per  indicated  horse  power  per  hour. 
Last  year  they  again  assembled  with  the 
same  object  in  view,  in  Liverpool,  and  Mr. 
Brarnwell  produced  a  table  showing  that 
the  average  consumption  by  17  good  exam- 
ples of  compound  expansive  engines  did  not 
exceed  2J  Ibs.  per  indicated  horse  power 
per  hour.  Mr.  E.  A.  Oowper  has  proved  a 
consumption  as  low  as  1|  Ibs.  per  indicated 
horse  power  per  hour  in  a  compound  ma- 
rine engine,  constructed  by  him  with  an 
intermediate  superheating  vessel.  Nor  are 
we  likely  to  stop  long  at  this  point  of  com- 
parative perfection,  for  in  the  early  portion 
of  my  address  I  have  endeavored  to  prove 
that  theoretical  perfection  would  only  be 
attained  if  an  indicated  horse  power  were 
produced  with  ^  Ib.  pure  carbon,  or  say  i 
Ib.  of  ordinary  steam  coal  per  hour. 

Here  then  we  have  two  distinct  margins 
to  work  upon,  the  one  up  to  the  limit  of  say 
2  Ibs.  of  coal  per  horse  power  per  hour, 


26 


which  has  been  practically  reached  in  some 
and  may  be  reached  in  most  cases,  and  the 
other  up  to  the  theoretical  limit  of  i  Ib.  per 
horse  power  per  hour ;  which  can  never  be 
absolutely  reached,  but  which  inventive 
power  may  and  will  enable  us  to  approach ! 
Domestic  Consumption. — The  wasteful- 
ness of  the  domestic  hearth  and  kitchen  fire 
is  self-evident.  Here  only  the  heat  radia- 
ted from  the  fire  itself  is  utilized,  and  the 
combustion  is  generally  extremely  imper- 
fect, because  the  iron  back,  and  excessive 
supply  of  cold  air,  check  combustion  before 
it  is  half  completed.  We  know  that  we  can 
heat  a  room  much  more  economically  by 
means  of  a  German  stove,  but  to  this  it  may 
be  very  properly  objected  that  it  is  cheer- 
less because  we  do  not  see  the  fire  or  feel 
its  drying  effect  upon  our  damp  clothing ; 
moreover,  it  does  not  provide  in  a  sufficient 
degree  for  ventilation,  and  makes  the  room 
feel  stuffy.  These  are,  in  my  opinion,  very 
weighty  objections,  and  economy  would  not 
be  worth  having  if  it  could  only  be  obtained 
at  the  expense  of  health  and  comfort.  But 
there  is  at  least  one  grate  that  combines  an 


27 


increased  amount  of  comfort  with  reasona- 
ble economy,  and  which,  although  accessi- 
ble to  all,  is  as  yet  very  little  used.  I  refer 
to  Captain  Galton's  "Ventilating  Fireplace," 
of  which  you  observe  a  diagram  upon  the 
wall.  This  fireplace  does  not  differ  in  ex- 
ternal appearance  from  an  ordinary  grate, 
except  that  it  has  a  higher  brick  back, 
which  is  perforated  at  about  midheight  to 
admit  warmed  air  into  the  fire  so  ae.  to  burn 
a  large  proportion  of  the  smoke  which  is 
usually  sent  up  the  chimney  unburnt,  for 
no  better  purpose  than  to  poison  the  atmos- 
phere which  we  have  to  breathe. 

The  chief  novelty  and  merit  of  Captain 
Galton's  fireplace  consists,  however,  in  pro- 
viding a  chamber  at  the  back  of  the  grate, 
into  which  air  passes  directly  from  without, 
becomes  moderately  heated  (to  84  deg.  Fah.), 
and,  rising  in  a  separate  flue,  is  injected 
into  the  room  under  the  ceiling  with  a  force 
due  to  the  heated  ascending  flue.  A  plenum 
of  pressure  is  thus  established  within  the 
room  whereby  indraughts  through  doors 
and  windows  are  avoided,  and  the  air  is 
continually  renewed  by  passing  away 


through  the  fireplace  chimney  as  usual. 
Thus  the  cheerfulness  of  an  open  fire,  the 
comfort  of  a  room  filled  with  fresh  but 
moderately  warmed  air,  and  great  economy 
of  fuel,  are  happily  combined  with  unques- 
tionable efficiency  and  simplicity ;  and  yet 
this  grate  is  little  used,  although  it  has 
been  fully  described  in  papers  communi- 
cated by  Captain  Gal  ton,  and  in  an  elaborate 
report  made  by  General  Morin,  le  Directeur 
du  Conservatoire  des  Arts  et  Metiers  of 
Paris,  which  has  also  appeared  in  the 
English  language. 

The  slowness  with  which  this  unques- 
tionable improvement  finds  practical  ap- 
plication is  due,  in  my  opinion,  to  two  cir- 
cumstances,— the  one  isx  that  Captain  Galton 
did  not  patent  his  improvement,  which 
makes  it  nobody's  business  to  force  it  into 
use,  and  the  other  may  be  found  in  the 
circumstance  that  houses  are,  to  a  great 
extent,  built  only  to  be  sold  and  not  to  be 
lived  in.  A  builder  thinks  it  a  good  spe- 
culation to  construct  a  score  of  houses  after 
a  cheap  design,  in  order  to  sell  them,  if 
possible, .  before  completion,  and  the  pur- 


29 


chaser  immediately  puts  up  the  standard 
bill  of  "Desirable  Eesidences  to  Let."  You 
naturally  would  think  that  in  taking  such 
a  house  you  had  only  to  furnish  it  to  your 
own  mind,  and  be  in  the  enjoyment  of 
all  reasonable  creature  comfort  from  the 
moment  you  enter  the  same.  This  fond 
hope  is  destined,  however,  to  cruel  dis- 
appointment ;  the  first  evening  you  turn  on 
the  gas,  you  find  that  although  the  pipes 
are  there,  the  gas  prefers  to  pass  out  by 
the  joints  into  the  room  instead  of  by  the 
burners  ;  the  water  in  like  manner  takes  its 
road  through  the  ceiling,  bringing  down 
with  it  a  patch  of  plaster  on  to  your  carpet. 
But,  worst  of  all,  the  products  of  combustion 
from,  the  firegrates  (made  probably  to 
dimensions  irrespective  of  the  size  of  the 
room),  stoutly  refuse  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  chimney  flues,  preferring  to  disperse 
themselves  in  volumes  of  smoke  into  the 
room.  Plumbers  and  chimney  doctors  are 
now  put  into  requisition,  pulling  up  floors, 
dirtying  carpets,  and  putting  up  gaunt- 
looking  chimney-pots ;  the  grates  them- 
selves have  to  be  altered  again  and  again, 


30 


until  by  slow  degrees  the  house  becomes 
habitable  in  a  degree,  although  you  now 
only  become  fully  aware  of  the  innumerable 
drawbacks  of  the  arrangements  adopted. 
Nevertheless,  the  house  has  been  an  ex- 
cellent one  "to  sell,"  and  the  builder 
adopts  the  same  pattern  for  another  block 
or  two  in  an  increasing  neighborhood. 
Why  should  this  builder  adopt  Captain 
Galton's  fireplace?  It  will  not  cost  him 
much,  it  is  true,  and  it  will  save  the  tenant 
a  great  deal  in  his  annual  coal  bill,  not  to 
speak  of  the  comfort  it  would  give  him  and 
his  family ;  but  nobody  demands  it  of  him, 
it  would  give  him  some  trouble  to  arrange 
his  details  and  subcontracts,  whicji  are  all 
settled  beforehand,  and  so  he  goes  on 
building  and  selling  houses  in  the  usual 
routine  way.  Nor  will  this  state  of  things 
be  altered  until  the  dwellers  in  houses  will 
take  the  matter  in  hand,  and  absolutely 
refuse  to  put  up  with  builders'  ways,  or, 
what  is  stiil  better,  get  builders  who  will 
put  up  houses  in  their  way.  This  is  done 
to  some  extent  by  building  societies,  but 
there  is  as  yet  too  much  of  the  old  leaven 


31 


left  in  the  trade,  and  the  question  itself  is 
too  little  understood. 

Consumption  in  Smelting  Operations. — 
We  now  come  to  the  third  branch  of  con- 
sumption, the  smelting  or  metallurgical 
furnace,  which  consumes  about  40,000,000 
of  the  120,000,000  tons  af  the  coal  produced. 
Here  also  is  great  room  for  improvement; 
the  actual  quantity  of  fuel  consumed  in 
heating  a  ton  of  iron  up  to  the  welding 
point,  or  in  melting  a  ton  of  steel,  is  more 
in  excess  of  the  theoretical  quantity  required 
for  these  purposes  than  is  the  case  with 
regard  to  the  production  of  steam  power 
and  to  domestic  consumption.  Taking  the 
specific  heat  of  iron  at  .114  and  the  welding 
heat  at  2,900  deg.  Fahrenheit,  it  would 
require  .114X2,900=331  heat  units  to  heat 
1  Ib.  of  iron.  A  pound  of  pure  carbon 
develops  14,500  heat  units,  a  pound  of 
common  coal  say  12,000,  and  therefore  one 
ton  of  coal  should  bring  36  tons  of  iron  up 
to  the  welding  point.  In  an  ordinary  re- 
heating furnace  a  ton  of  coal  heats  only  If 
ton  of  iron,  and  therefore  produces  only  -^0 
part  of  the  maximum  theoretical  effect.  In 


32 


melting  one  ton  of  steel  in  pots  2J  tons  of 
coke  are  consumed,  and  taking  the  melting 
point  of  steel  at  3,600  deg.  Fahrenheit,  the 
specific  heat  at  .119,  it  takes  .119XMOO= 
428  heat  units  to  melt  a  pound  of  steel,  and 
taking  the  heat-producing  power  of  com- 
mon coke  also  at  12,000  units,  one  ton  of 
coke  ought  to  be  able  to  melt  28  tons  of 
steel.  The  Sheffield  pot  steel  melting  fur- 
nace therefore  only  utilizes  -^th  part  of  the 
theoretical  heat  developed  in  the  combus- 
tion. Here  therefore  is  a  very  wide  margin 
for  improvement,  to  which  I  have  specially 
devoted  my  attention  for  many  years, 
and  not  without  the  attainment  of  useful 
results.  Since  the  year  1846,  or  very 
shortly  after  the  first  announcement  of  the 
dynamical  theory,  I  have  devoted^my  atten- 
tion to  a  realization  of  some  of  the  econom- 
ic results  which  that  theory  rendered  feasi- 
ble, fixing  upon  the  regenerator  as  the  ap- 
pliance which,  without  being  capable  of 
reproducing  heat  when  once  really  con- 
sumed, is  extremely  useful  for  temporarily 
storing  such  heat  as  cannot  be  immediately 
.utilized,  in  order  to  impart  it  to  the  fluid  or 


33 


other  substance  which  is  employed  in  con- 
tinuation of  the  operation  of  heating,  or  of 
generating  force. 

Without  troubling  you  with  an  account  of 
the  gradual  progress  of  these  improvements, 
in  which  my  brother  Frederick  has  .taken 
an  important  part,  I  will  describe  to  you 
shortly  the  furnace  which  I  now  employ  for 
melting  steel.  It  consists  of  a  bed  made  of 
very  refractory  material,  such  as  pure  silica, 
sand  and  silica  or  Dinas  brick  under  which 
4  regenerators  (or  chambers  filled  with 
checkerwork  of  brick)  are  arranged  in  such 
a  manner,  that  a  current  of  combustible  gas 
passes  upward  through  one  of  these  regen- 
erators, while  a  current  of  air  passes  up- 
wards through  the  adjoing  regenerator,  in 
order  to  meet  in  combustion  at  the  en- 
trance into  the  furnace  chamber.  The  prod- 
ucts of  combustion,  instead  of  passing  di- 
rectly to  the  chimney  as  in  an  ordinary  fur- 
nace, are  directed  downwards  through  the 
two  other  regenerators  on  their  way  towards 
the  chimney,  where  they  part  with  their 
heat  to  the  checkerwork  in  such  manner 
that  the  highest  degree  of  heat  is  imparted 


34 


to  the  upper  layers,  and  that  the  gaseous 
products  reach  the  chimney  comparatively 
cool  (about  300  deg.  Fah.).  After  going  on 
in  this  way  for  half  an  hour,  the  currents 
are  reversed  by  means  of  suitable  reversing 
valves,  and  the  cold  air  and  combustible 
.gas  now  enter  the  furnace  chamber,  after 
having  taken  up  heat  from  the  regenera- 
tors in  the  reverse  order  in  which  it  was 
deposited,  reaching  the  furnace  therefore 
nearly  at  the  temperature  at  which  the 
gases  of  combustion  left  the  same.  A  great 
accumulation  of  temperature  within  the  re- 
generators is  the  result,  one  pair  being 
heated  while  the  other  pair  is  being  cooled ; 
it  is  easy  to  conceive  that,  in  this  way,  heat 
may  be  produced  within  the  furnace  cham- 
ber up  to  an  apparently  unlimited  degree, 
and  with  a  minimum  amount  of  chimney 
draught. 

Practically  the  limit  is  reached  at  the 
point  where  the  materials  composing  the 
furnace  chamber  begin  to  melt.  Whereas 
a  theoretical  limit  also  exists  in  the  fact 
that  combustion  ceases  at  a  point  which  has 
been  laid  down  by  St.  Clair  Deville  at  4,500 


35 


deg.  Fah.,  and  which  has  been  called  by 
him  the  point  of  "  dissociation. "  At  this 
point  hydrogen  might  be  mixed  with  oxy- 
gen and  yet  the  two  would  not  combine, 
showing  that  combustion  really  only  takes 
place  btween  the  limits  of  temperature  of 
about  600  and  4,500  deg.  Fah. 

To  return  to  the  regenerative  gas  furnace. 
It  is  evident  that  there  must  be  economy 
where,  within  ordinary  limits,  any  degree 
of  heat  can  be  obtained,  while  the  products 
of  combustion  pass  in  the  chimney  only  300 
deg.  hot.  Practically  a  ton  of  steel  is  melt- 
ed in  this  furnace  with  12  cwt.  of  small  coal 
consumed  in  the  gas  producer,  which  latter 
may  be  placed  at  any  reasonable  distance 
from  the  furnace,  and  consists  of  a  brick 
chamber  containing  several  tons  of  fuel  in 
a  state  of  slow  disintegration.  In  large 
works,  a  considerable  number  of  these  gas- 
producers  are  connected  by  tubes  or  flues 
with  a  number  of  furnaces.  Collateral 
advantages  in  this  system  of  heating  are, 
that  no  smoke  is  produced,  and  that  the 
works  are  not  encumbered  with  solid  fuel 
and  ashes. 


36 


It  is  a  favorite  project  of  mine,  which  I 
have  not  had  an  opportunity  yet  of  carrying 
practically  into  effect,  to  place  these  gas 
producers  at  the  bottom  of  coal-pits.  A  gas 
shaft  would  have  to  be  provided  to  conduct 
the  gas  to  the  surface,  the  lifting  of  coal 
would  be  saved,  and  the  gas  in  its  ascent 
would  accumulate  such  an  amount  of  for- 
ward pressure  that  it  might  be  conducted 
for  a  distance  of  several  miles  to  the  works 
or  places  of  consumption.  This  plan,  so  far 
from  being  dangerous,  would  insure  a  very 
•perfect  ventilation  of  the  mine,  and  would 
enable  us  to  utilize  those  waste  deposits  of 
small  coal  (amounting  on  the  average  to 
20  per  cent.)  which  are  now  left  unutilized 
within  the  pit. 

Another  plan  of  the  future  which  has 
occupied  my  attention  is  the  supply  of 
towns  with  heating  gas  for  domestic  and 
manufacturing  purposes.  In  the  year  1863 
a  company  was  formed,  with  the  concur- 
rence of  the  Corporation  of  Birmingham,  to 
provide  such  a  supply  in  that  town  at  the 
rate  of  6d.  per  1,000  cubic  ft.;  but  the  Bill 
necessary  for  that  purpose  was  thrown  out 


37 


in  Committee  of  the  House  of  Lords  be- 
cause their  Lordships  thought  that  if  this 
was  as  good  a  plan  as  it  was  represented 
to  be,  the  existing  gas  companies  would 
be  sure  to  carry  it  into  effect.  I  need 
hardly  say  that  the  existing  companies 
have  not  carried  it  into  effect,  having  been 
constituted  for  another  object,  and  that  the 
realization  of  the  plan  itself  has  been  inde- 
finitely postponed.  It  has,  however,  lately 
been  taken  up  and  partly  carried  into  effect 
at  Berlin. 

COAL   QUESTION. 

Having  now  passed  in  review  the  princi- 
pal applications  of  fuel,  with  a  view  chiefly 
to  draw  the  distinction  between  our  actual 
consumption  and  the  consumption  that 
would  result  if  our  most  improved  practice 
were  made  general ;  and  having,  moreover, 
endeavored  to  prove  to  you  what  are  the 
ultimate  limits  of  consumption  which  are 
absolutely  fixed  by  theory,  but  which  we 
shall  never  be  able  to  realize  completely,  I 
will  now  apply  my  reasoning  to  the  coal 
question  of  the  day. 


38 


In  looking  into  the  "  Eeport  of  the  Se- 
lect Committee  appointed  to  Inquire  into 
the  Causes  of  the  Present  Dearness  of  Coal," 
we  find  that  in  1872  no  less  than  123,000,- 
000  tons  of  coal  was  got  up  from  the  mines 
of  England   and  Wales,   notwithstanding 
famine  prices  and  the  colliers'  strikes.     In 
1862  the  total  getting  of  coal  amounted  to 
only  83,500,000,  showing  a  yearly  average 
increase   of  production  of  4,000,000  tons. 
If  this  progressive  increase  continues,  our 
production  will  have    reached,    30   years 
hence,  the  startling  figure  of  250,000,000 
tons  per  annum;    which  would  probably 
result  in  an  increase  of  price  very  much  in 
excess  of  the  limits  yet  reached.     In  esti- 
mating last  year's  increase  of  price,  which 
has  every  appearance  of  being  permanent 
at  8s.  per  ton  all  round,  and  after  deducting 
the  13,000,000  tons  which  were  exported 
abroad,  we  find  that  the  British  consumer 
had  to  pay  £44,000,000  more  than  the  mar- 
ket value  of  former  years  for  his  supply  of 
coal — a  sufficient  sum,  one  would  think,  to 
make  him  look  earnestly  into  the  question 
of  "  waste  of  fuel,"  which,  as  I  have  been 


39 


endeavoring  to  show,  is  very  great  indeed. 
The  Select  Committee  just  quoted  sums  up 
its  report  by  the  following  expression: — 
"  The  general  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from 
the  whole  evidence  is,  that  though  the  pro- 
duction of  coal  increased  in  1872  in  a  small- 
er ratio  than  it  had  increased  in  the  years 
immediately  preceding,  yet  if  an  adequate 
supply  of  labor  can  be  obtained,  the  in- 
crease of  production  will  shortly  keep  pace 
with  that  of  the  last  few  years." 

This  is  surely  a  very  insufficient  conclu- 
sion to  be  arrived  at  by  a  Select  Parliamen- 
tary Committee  after  a  long  and  expensive 
inquiry,  and  the  worst  of  it  is,  that  it  stands 
in  direct  contradiction  with  the  corrected 
table  given  in  the  same  report,  which  shows 
that  the  progressive  increase  of  production 
has  been  fully  maintained  during  the  last 
two  years,  having  amounted  to  5,826,000 
for  1871,  and  5,717,000  for  1872  ;  whereas 
the  average  increase  during  the  last  ten 
years  has  only  been  4,000,000  tons !  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  Parliament  will  not  rest 
satisfied  with  such  a  negative  result,  but 
will  insist  upon  knowing  whether  a  proper 


40 


balance  between  the  demand  and  supply  of 
coal  cannot  be  re-established,  also  what  can 
be  done  to  prevent  the  wholesale  conversion 
of  fuel  into  useless  or  positively  hurtful  re- 
sults. 

In  taking  the  105,000,000  tons  of  coal 
consumed  in  this  country  last  year  for  our 
basis,  I  estimate  that,  if  we  could  make  up 
our  minds  to  consume  our  coal  in  a  careful 
and  judicious  manner,  according  to  our 
present  lights,  we  should  be  able  to  reduce 
that  consumption  by  50,000,000  tons.  The 
realization  of  such  an  economy  would  cer- 
tainly involve  a  very  considerable  expendi- 
ture of  capital  and  must  be  a  work  of  time ; 
but  what  I  contend  is,  that  our  progress  in 
effecting  economy  ought  to  be  accelerated, 
in  order  to  establish  a  balance  between  the 
present  production  and  the  ever-increasing 
demand  for  the  effects  of  heat. 

In  looking  through  the  statistical  returns 
of  the  progressive  increase  of  population,  of 
steam  power  employed,  and  of  production 
of  iron  and  steel,  etc.,  I  find  that  our  neces- 
sities increase  at  a  rate  of  not  less  than  8 
per  cent,  per  annum,  whereas  our  coal  con- 


41 


sumption  increases  only  at  the  rate  of  4 
per  cent.,  showing  that  the  balance  of  4  per 
cent,  is  met  by  what  may  be  called  our 
"intellectual  progress."  Now,  considering 
the  enormous  margin  for  improvement  be- 
fore us,  I  contend  that  we  should  not  be  sat- 
isfied with  this  rate  of  intellectual  progress, 
involving,  as  it  does,  an  annual  deficit  of 
4,000,000  tons  to  be  met  by  increased  coal 
production,  but  that  we  should  bring  our 
intellectual  progress  up  to  the  rate  of  our 
industrial  progress,  by  which  means  we 
should  make  the  coal  production  nearly  a 
constant  quantity  for  several  generations  to 
come.  By  that  time  our  successors  may  be 
expected  to  have  effected  another  great  step 
in  advance  towards  the  theoretical  limit  of 
effect,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  lays  so  far 
above  any  actual  result  we  have  as  yet  at- 
tained, that  an  annual  consumption  of  10- 
000,000  tons  would  give  more  than  the 
equivalent  of  the  heat  energy  which  we 
actually  require. 


42 


SOLAS   HEAT. 

I  have  endeavored  to  show,  in  the 
early  part  of  this  lecture,  that  all  avail- 
able energy  upon  the  earth,  excepting 
the  tidal  wave,  is  derived  from  the  sun,  and 
that  the  amount  of  heat  radiated  year  by 
year  upon  our  earth,  could  be  measured  by 
the  evaporation  of  a  layer  of  water  J  4  ft. 
deep  spread  over  the  entire  surface,  which 
again  would  be  represented  by  the  combus- 
tion of  a  layer  of  coal  8  in.  in  thickness, 
covering  our  entire  globe.  It  must,  how- 
ever, be  taken  into  account  that  three- 
fourths  of  this  heat  is  intercepted  by  our 
atmosphere,  and  only  one-fourth  reaches 
the  earth  itself.  The  amount  of  heat 
radiated  away  from  the  sun  would  be  re- 
presented by  the  annual  combustion  of  a 
thickness  of  coal  17  miles  thick,  covering 
its  entire  surface,  and  it  has  been  a  source 
of  wonderment  with  natural  philosophers 
how  so  prodigious  an  amount  of  heat  could 
be  given  off  year  after  year  without  any 
appreciable  diminution  of  the  sun's  heat 
having  become  observable. 


43 


Eecent  researches  with  the  spectroscope, 
chiefly  by  Mr.  Norman  Lockyer,  have 
thrown  much  light  upon  this  question.  It 
is  now  clearly  made  out  that  the  sun  con- 
sists near  the  surface,  if  not  throughout  its 
mass,  of  gaseous  elementary  bodies,  and  in 
a  great  measure  of  hydrogen  gas,  which 
cannot  combine  with  the  oxygen  present, 
owing  to  an  excessive  elevation  of  tempera- 
ture (due  to  the  original  great  compression), 
which  has  been  estimated  at  from  20,000 
deg.  to  22,000  deg.  Fah.  This  chemically 
inert  and  comparatively  dark  mass  of  the 
sun  is  surrounded  by  the  photosphere, 
where  its  gaseous  constituents  rush  into 
combustion,  owing  to  reduction  of  tempera- 
ture in  consequence  of  their  expansion  and 
of  radiation  of  heat  into  space.  This  photo- 
sphere is  surrounded  in  its  turn  by  the 
chromosphere,  consisting  of  the  products  of 
combustion,  which,  after  being  cooled 
down  through  loss  of  heat  by  radiation, 
sink  back,  owing  to  their  acquired  density, 
towards  the  centre  of  the  sun,  where  they 
become  again  intensely  heated  through 
compression,  and  are  "  dissociated  "  or  split 


44 


up  again  into  their  elements  at  the  expense 
of  internal  solar  heat.  Great  convulsions 
are  thus  continually  produced  upon  the 
solar  surface,  resulting  frequently  in  explo- 
sive actions  of  extraordinary  magnitude, 
when  masses  of  living  fire  are  projected  a 
thousand  miles  or  more  upward,  giving  rise 
to  the  phenomena  of  sun  spots  and  of  the 
corona  which  is  visible  during  the  total 
eclipses  of  the  sun.  The  sun  may  there- 
fore be  looked  upon  in  the  light  of  a  gi- 
gantic gas-furnace,  in  which  the  same  ma- 
terials of  combustion  are  used  over  and  over 
again. 

It  would  be  impossible  for  me  at  this 
late  hour  to  enter  further  upon  speculations 
regarding  the  "  regeneration  of  the  sun's 
heat  upon  its  surface,"  which  is  a  question 
replete  with  scientific  and  also  practical 
interest.  We  should  always  remember 
that  nature  is  our  safest  teacher,  and  that 
in  trying  to  comprehend  the  great  works  of 
our  Creator  we  shall  learn  how  to  utilize 
to  the  best  advantage  those  stores  of  poten- 
tial energy  in  the  shape  of  fuel  which  have 
providentially  been  placed  at  our  disposal. 


THE  VALUE  OF  ARTIFICIAL  FUELS 

AS 

COMPAEED  WITH  GOAL. 


The  question  at  issue  really  is,  why 
should  artificial  fuels  be  worth  considering 
only  during  the  existence  of  a  coal  famine  ? 
We  are  well  aware  that  artificial  fuels  are 
in  daily  use,  but  I  ask  to  what  extent,  as 
compared  with  the  resources  we  have  for 
producing  it.  There  are  thousands  of  tons 
annually  of  really  good  fuel  cast  on  one 
side,  destroying  otherwise  profitable  land, 
that,  if  only  dealt  with  by  known  processes, 
would  be  almost  as  valuable  as  the  coal 
itself  in  its  units  of  work.  Eises  in  the 
price  of  coal  above  the  ordinary  level  are 
quickly  followed  by  the  appearance  of  this 
waste  in  the  market,  and  not  till  then  is  it 
disposed  of  commercially,  after  laying  for 
years  exposed  to  the  weather  during  the 
low  or  ordinary  price  of  coal ;  it  must  be 
remembered,  too,  that  this  residue  under 
consideration,  through  such  exposure, 


46 


gradually  loses  in  value  for  heating  pur- 
poses, and  is  reduced  in  bulk  through  dirt 
and  dust  being  carried  away  by  wind,  par- 
tially destroying  useful  land  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, while  the  slow  process  of  oxida- 
tion reduces  the  percentage  of  heating 
power.  Thus,  if  after  years  of  deterioration 
at  the  pit's  mouth,  this  stuff  is  found  to  be 
of  marketable  value,  it  surely  ought  nottobe 
allowed  to  accumulate  to  the  extent  it  does. 

The  question  is — that,  if  for  the  future 
immediate  advantage  is  taken  of  this  refuse 
when  brought  to  the  pit's  mouth,  to  what 
extent  will  it  relieve  us  ?  Professor  Gardner, 
at  the  Polytechnic  Institution,  London,  has 
been  telling  us  lately  that  there  are  about 
24,000,000  tons  of  this  smudge  or  waste 
brought  up  to  the  surface  annually,  but  as 
he  has  taken  a  percentage  of  a  rather  high 
total  annual  get  of  coal,  viz.,  140,000,000 
tons  —  whereas  it  is,  I  believe,  about 
120,000,000  tons — we  may  safely  assume 
that  there  is  not  less  than  20,000,000  tons 
of  waste  brought  up  with  the  present  annual 
production  of  coal. 

There  is  no  reason  why  at  any  time  this 
improperly  so  termed  waste  should  not  be 


47 


made  good  use  of,  let  the  price  of  coal  come 
down  to  what  it  may  ;  and  we  must  hope 
that  the  inertia  lately  given  to  the  fuel 
question  will  start  enterprise  in  the  right 
direction  as  far  as  this  item  is  concerned. 
It  may  be  argued  that  coal  dust  is  used  in 
the  manufacture  of  patent  fuels ;  but  what- 
ever is  used  in  quantity  there  is  an  un- 
doubted accumulation  of  this  so-called 
waste,  and  this  waste,  if  not  allowed  to  de- 
teriorate by  long  exposure  to  the  atmos- 
phere, may  be  made  as  commercially  valu- 
able as  the  selected  class  of  dust. 

For  domestic  purposes  I  don't  think  that 
patent  fuels,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the 
term,  are  well  adapted ;  but  if  the  20,000,000 
tons  just  referred  to  was  rightly  made  use 
of,  it  would  reduce  the  existing  draw  upon 
coal  for  steam  purposes  considerably.  I 
have  drawn  attention  specially  to  this  coal 
residue  question  to  show  that  it  forms  con- 
siderable bulk  when  compared  with  the 
staple  fuel  itself,  and,  as  its  cost  of  get  or 
production  equals  that  of  the  coal,  it  is  of 
no  minor  importance  that  use  should  be 
made  of  it  with  the  best  results  attainable, 
especially  when  we  find  the  demand  for 


48 


fuel  in  all  directions  increasing  in  the  ratio 
that  it  is  doing. 

The  question  now  arises :  What  is  the 
best  way  of  treating  this  residue  or  waste  ? 
As  it  really  forms  the  foundation  in  bulk  of 
patent  fuels  as  a  rule  up  to  the  present 
time,  it  may  and  will  be  assumed  that  there 
have  been  various  ways  of  dealing  with  it 
so  as  to  make  it  a  fuel  of  commercial  value. 
Therefore,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating 
superficially  what  has  been  done  to  attain 
this  object,  I  have  referred  back  to  what 
has  been  patented  directly  for  this  purpose. 

We  are  supposed  to  find  in  the  patent 
records  all  that  is  of  value,  and,  of  course, 
plenty  that  is  not  of  value ;  and  I  have 
taken  this  course  of  obtaining  what  little 
information  I  can  lay  before  you  this  even- 
ing for  the  purpose  of  connecting  the  fuel 
history  of  the  past  with  the  present.  To 
more  clearly  explain  the  connection,  I  have 
considered  it  worth  while  to  diagram  the 
mixtures  in  the  relative  proportions  as  set 
forth  in  the  respective  specifications,  but 
only  in  such  cases  which  I  have  considered 
interesting  for  comparison.  In  following 
them  up  we  certainly  shall  find  a  few  ex- 


49 


traordinary-looking  proportions  both  in  the 
nature  and  in  the  quantities  of  the  several 
ingredients,  but  as  to  the  merits  of  such 
mixtures  or  compounds  for  the  purpose  re- 
quired, I  will  leave  the  meeting  to  judge 
for  itself.  In  searching  back  through  the 
patent  records,  the  first  published  specifica- 
tion I  can  find  in  connection  with  fuel  is 
dated  April,  1773 — exactly  one  hundred 
years  since.  I  believe  patents  for  the  same 
subject  had  been  granted  long  prior  to  the 
above  date,  for  I  remember  some  time  back 
noticing  in  "  The  Engineer,"  in  one  of  a 
series  of  articles  on  peat,  that  a  patent  was 
granted  to  one  William  Eallowfield,  in  1727, 
"  for  the  use  of  charred  peat  in  the  smelting 
and  manufacture  of  iron."  In  the  patent 
of  1773,  just  referred  to,  the  specification 
relates  chiefly  to  the  purification  of  coal  for 
smelting  purposes,  and  we  may  reasonably 
infer  that  at  this  time  serious  attention  be- 
gan to  be  paid  with  respect  to  fuel,  for 
down  to  1792 — a  period  of  nineteen  years — 
we  find  the  same  John  Barber  figuring  in 
the  patent  list,  and  with  the  same  object. 

In  the  year  1799,  which  we  may  call  in 
round  numbers  nearly  three-quarters  of  a 


50 


century  back,  we  find  the  first  patent  record 
of  a  composition  or  artificial  fuel,  in  which 
the  patentee  describes  the  machinery  for 
separating  or  screening  the  coals,  taking 
the  small  or  dust  of  the  same  as  a  base  for 
his  fuel,  which  is  to  be  mixed  with  any  por- 
tion or  all  the  ingredients  named  in  the  di- 
agrams (1799),  in  which  the  various  ingre- 
dients are  simply  named,  there  being  no 
proportion  specified.  He  proceeds  to  say 
that  they  must  be  mixed  together  and 
ground  in  water  in  a  wooden  vessel,  after 
which  he  moulds  the  composition  into  cakes 
or  balls  for  use.  I  wish  to  draw  particular 
attention  to  this  three-quarter  of  a  century 
old  patent,  for  I  think  we  see  there  the 
secret  of  nearly,  if  not  all,  of  our  patent 
fuels  up  to  the  present  day ;  and  it  is  strange 
to  watch  how  persistently  fresh  patents  are 
obtained,  almost  weekly,  for  artificial  fuels, 
the  component  ingredients  of  which  come, 
in  one  way  or  another,  within  the  list  before 
us.  The  patentee  evidently  went  in  for 
everything  and  anything  that  at  all  stood  a 
chance,  and  it  appears  he  got  exhausted  at 
last  when  he  had  to  connect  "broken  glass" 
with  "any  other  combustible  ingredient." 


51 


In  1800,  the  year  following,  we  again  find  a 
list  of  ingredients  much,  resembling  the  for- 
mer, but  it  may  be  noticed  that  peat  is  here 
mentioned,  a  substance  that  must  have  been 
quite  unknown  to  the  former  patentee,  oth- 
erwise he  surely  would  not  have  omitted 
such  an  important  ingredient  in  preference 
to  broken  glass.  The  patentee  in  this  case, 
too,  does  not  give  any  definite  proportions 
to  his  mixture,  but  specifies  that  "  the  pro- 
portions of  the  ingredients  vary  so  as  to 
suit  different  purposes."  The  list  is  given 
under  1800  to  show  the  resemblance  be- 
tween the  two.  Twenty-one  years  later, 
say  fifty  years  ago,  we  get  a  mixture  that 
has,  I  believe,  been  used  for  an  artificial  or 
patent  fuel  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  any 
other — small  coal  and  tar,  in  proportion  of 
3  quarts  of  the  latter  to  1  bushel  of  the  for- 
mer. This  is  the  first  patent  during  the 
twenty-one  years  on  the  immediate  subject 
in  question,  but  I  think  we  may  safely  as- 
sume that  during  this  period  artificial  fuel 
must  have  kept  in  use  more  or  less,  and  it 
seems  strange  that  after  such  a  lapse  the  pat- 
entee of  the  previous  mixture  should  burst 
out  with  such  a  simple  modification  of  his  first 


52 


specification.  Perhaps  he  had  run  the  full 
term  with  the  patent  of  1800,  and  no  doubt  in 
the  meantime  he  had  ample  experience 
from  actual  practice  as  to  value,  both  in 
cost  and  work,  of  various  mixtures  and  pro- 
portions of  the  ingredients  named  in  his 
first  specification,  and  at  last  comes  down 
to  the  simple  coal  and  tar  mixture  made 
into  bricks,  and  for  which  he  secures  a 
fresh  patent.  The  next  mention  in  connec- 
tion with  combined  fuel  is  in  1824,  when 
we  get  a  mixture  of  one- third  to  one-fifth 
of  bituminous  coal,  and  the  remainder  stone 
coal,  or  culm,  and  I  think  this  was  simply 
mixing  the  one  with  the  other  and  using  it 
in  the  ordinary  way.  In  the  year  following, 
1825,  we  have  gas-tar  and  clay,  with  saw- 
dust or  tanner's  bark,  or  the  refuse  of 
dyers'  wood,  or  any  species  of  wood  suffi- 
ciently granulated  or  reduced,  or  turf,  or 
straw,  or  bran.  The  patentee  gives  a  pro- 
portion of  one- fourth  gas-tar,  one-fourth 
clay,  and  two-fourths  of  any  other  ingre- 
dients, but  a  proportion  that  he  says  burns 
very  bright  is  one-third  tar,  one-third  clay, 
and  one-third  sawdust.  The  patentee  also 


53 


adds  that  gas-tar  boiled  loses  mucli  of  its 
smell  without  materially  injuring  its  quality. 
He  formed  his  composition  into  squares  or 
lumps,  and  exposed  them  to  the  weather  for 
a  few  months. 

1826  brings  us  to  a  proportion  of  one- 
fourth  dung,  one-fourth  sawdust,  one-fourth 
tanner's  bark,  and  one-fourth  mud,  the 
above  being  mixed  with  sufficient  water  to 
bind  them  well  together.  Afterwards  it  is 
formed  into  squares,  then  dried  by  artificial 
heat  and  dipped  in  hot  tar.  I  really  don't 
think  this  made  a  bad  fuel,  but  when  we 
come  to  such  ingredients  as  tanner's  bark, 
sawdust,  and  dung,  in  the  large  proportions 
as  specified  here,  we  should  fail  in  quantity, 
whatever  kind  of  a  fuel  it  might  make.  If 
we  could  only  introduce  a  little  more  of  the 
mud  business  in  our  preparation  of  artificial 
fuels  I'm  sure  it  would  be  hailed  with  de- 
light, especially  by  our  corporations. 

We  now  pass  over  a  period  of  seven 
years,  during  which  time  artificial  fuel  pro- 
ductions— as  far  as  patents  go — lie  dormant, 
but  in  1833  we  have  a  specification  claiming 
a  mixture  of  sea  coal  with  brick  earth,  blue 


54 


clay,  river  sand,  or  deposits  of  running  or 
stagnant  waters.  The  proportion  of  coal  to 
be  equal  to  that  of  either  of  the  other 
materials,  and  to  be  mixed  like  mortar  with, 
tar  and  made  into  cakes  or  balls.  The  in- 
gredients here  contained  may  be  taken  from 
the  1799  list,  substituting  the  river  sand 
for  broken  glass. 

Three  years  later,  or  in  1836,  we  get  an 
extraordinary  combination  of  ingredients, 
and,  from  the  finite  proportions  of  certain 
of  them,  I  should  imagine  that  the  specifi- 
cation is  the  result  of  a  long  and  tedious 
series  of  laboratory  experiments  and  tests. 
The  patentee  begins  with  peat,  of  which  he 
takes  one  ton  in  its  raw  or  charred  state, 
and  to  this  he  adds  30  Ibs.  of  crude  nitre, 
14  Ibs.  of  alum  (for  preventing  smoke),  14 
Ibs.  of  linseed,  14  Ibs.  of  resin,  asphalt,  or 
naphtha,  150  Ibs.  of  coke,  168  Ibs.  of  green 
vegetable  matter  and  156  Ibs.  of  animal 
excrements  or  other  animal  matter.  For 
use  the  mixture  is  formed  into  bricks.  I 
cannot  say  how  the  peat  was  dealt  with  so 
as  to  amalgamate  properly  with  these  par- 
ticular substances,  but  there  must  have 


Of    THf 

,,  ii  "ONIVEESITY  ) 


been  some  means  of  masticating  or  triturat- 
ing it,  otherwise  perfect  mixing  would  be 
impossible,  as  also  the  formation  into 
bricks. 

A  year  later  —  1837  —  we  reach  the  first 
mention  of  treating  peat  alone,  as  far  as 
concerns  operations  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
verting peat,  moss,  turf,  or  bog  into  fuel. 
It  is  first  cut  up  or  triturated,  and  then 
compressed  and  dried  by  artificial  or  other 
means  ;  hydraulic  presses,  levers,  and  screws 
are  mentioned  amongst  the  appliances  for 
compressing. 

In  the  same  year  we  get  a  well-known 
name  in  connection  with  fuel.  0.  Wye 
Williams  mixes  peat,  after  mastication,  with 
sand  finely  powdered,  limestone  powdered 
or  ground,  coal  slack,  or  quick  or  hot  lime. 
I  should  in  this  case  expect  that  the  ex- 
pense of  first  preparing  the  peat  for  mix- 
ture, and  added  to  that  the  cost  of  grinding 
or  powdering  the  limestone  or  sand,  would 
not  tell  favorably  as  regards  a  marketable 
price  in  comparison  with  coal,  especially  of 
late  years. 

About  this  time  the  artificial  fuel  ques- 


56 


tion  seems  to  have  received  a  considerable 
amount  of  attention,  and  in  1838  I  find  five 
patents  secured  for  the  same.  The  first  of 
that  year  illustrates  how  we  still  keep  to 
the  old  ingredients,  with  perhaps  a  slight 
variation  in  proportions.  The  patentee  in 
one  case  adds  to  one  ton  of  small  coal 
30  Ibs.  of  tar,  180  Ibs.  of  dry  mud,  clay, 
or  marl,  then  mixes  with  50  gallons  of 
water,  and  adds  30  Ibs.  of  lime  or  chalk. 
Again,  to  10  cwt.  of  coal  dust  he  adds  5  cwt. 
of  peat,  5  cwt.  of  sawdust,  200  Ibs.  of  clay 
or  mud,  30  Ibs.  of  lime,  and  30  Ibs.  of  tar, 
the  whole  being  mixed  in  water  and  then 
formed  into  bricks.  Another  of  the  mix- 
tures of  the  same  year  is :  7  parts  of  full- 
ers' earth  or  strong  blue  clay,  2  parts  of 
tar,  8  parts  of  small  coal,  and  3  parts  of 
mud,  the  mixture  being  then  formed  into 
bricks  for  use.  I  certainly  should  think 
this  a  doubtful  fuel,  considering  there  is  50 
per  cent,  of  clay  and  mud  to  50  per  cent,  of 
small  coal  with  tar  in  it.  Again,  in  the 
same  year  we  get  10  per  cent,  of  tar,  18^  per 
cent,  of  cinders,  peat,  or  sawdust,  18^  per 
cent,  of  clay,  sand,  or  chalk,  50  per  cent,  of 


57 


small  coal,  and  2  J  per  cent,  of  acids  for  an- 
other combination.  We  also  in  this  year 
again  find  C.  Wye  Williams  patenting  a 
means  of  preparing  peat,  moss,  or  bog,  by 
pressing  it  or  mixing  with  it  bituminous  mat- 
ter, and  we  may  close  the  year  1838  with  a 
mixture  consisting  of  13  cwt.  of  coke,  4  cwt. 
of  clay  or  mud,  and  1  cwt.  of  liquid  pitch. 

In  1839,  there  is  again  repeated  the  "  ob- 
taining a  fuel  by  mixing  tar  or  bituminous 
coal  with  inferior  coal  dust;"  this  is  fol- 
lowed up  in  the  same  year  by  Lord  Wil- 
loughby  d'Eresby,  patenting  the  compres- 
sion of  peat  in  the  raw  state,  and  without 
cutting  it  up. 

In  1840  we  find  a  specification  of  a  mix- 
ture to  be  employed  for  buildings,  mould- 
ings, castings,  statuary,  imitation  of  soft  or 
hard  rocks,  etc.,  and  also  to  be  used  as  a 
fuel.  Whether  any  buildings  were  ever 
constructed  of  this  fuel  or  not  I  am  not  in  a 
position  to  say,  but  I  should  imagine  that 
the  insurance  companies  would  fight  shy  of 
them.  While  upon  the  subject,  I  may  as 
well  mention  as  a  proof  that  even  now  there 
are  people  who,  with  the  patentee  of  thirty 


58 


years  past,  believe  that  for  some  reason  or 
other  it  is  advisable  to  construct  our  dwell- 
ings of  fuel,  for  in  a  specification  relating  to 
building  materials,  dated  as  recent  as  last 
September,  I  find  the  following  as  an  ab- 
stract :  "  The  said  invention  relates  to  a 
novel  treatment  of  bricks,  unburnt  clay,  soft 
stone,  chalk,  plaster  of  Paris,  and  other  like 
porous  materials,  whereby  a  new  material  is 
obtained,  which  possesses  many  advantages 
for  building  and  other  purposes.  To  accom- 
plish this  object  the  inventor  takes  common 
bricks,  blocks  of  sandstone,  or  the  other  ma- 
terial to  be  used,  and  saturates  the  same 
with  boiled  coal  tar,  melted  pitch,  or  other 
similar  substance." 

In  the  same  year,  1840,  we  find  400  Ibs. 
of  tar  and  105  Ibs.  of  clay  to  one  ton  of 
small  coal,  made  into  bricks,  followed  up, 
four  months  later,  by  20  Ibs.  weight  of 
pitch  to  1  cwt.  of  coal  dust,  moulded  into 
bricks. 

The  year  1841  gives  us  three  patents  con- 
nected with  artificial  fuels,  none  of  them 
varying  from  previous  mixtures,  with  the 
exception  that  one  of  them  contains  ground 
slate. 


59 


In  1842  we  find  five  specifications,  the  only 
one  worth  mentioning,  specifying  chalk 
lime,  soft  stone,  bricks,  all  broken  into 
small  pieces  and  saturated  with  tar,  and 
then  used  in  the  same  manner  as  we  use 
ordinary  coal. 

In  1 843  we  again  get  five  patents  relating 
to  artificial  fuels,  one  specifying  certain  pro- 
portions of  pitch,  coal,  and  coke  ground  to- 
gether, and  for  every  ton  so  ground  is  add- 
ed 6  Ibs.  powdered  resin,  and  3  gallons  of 
boiled  linseed  oil ;  another  gives  10  per 
cent,  of  pitch  or  coal  tar  to  90  per  cent,  of 
small  coal,  and  to  prevent  smoke,  there  is 
added  2  to  5  per  cent,  of  common  salt  dry, 
or  alum  dissolved. 

In  1844  there  are  three  patents  connected 
with  the  subject,  one  of  them  being  "  for 
machinery  for  getting  the  moisture  out  of 
peat."  At  this  time  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  fresh  impulse  given  to  the  fuel  ques- 
tion, very  probably  in  the  anticipation  of 
locomotive  requirements,  for  in  the  year 
1845  there  are  seven  applications  named  in 
artificial  fuels,  chiefly  of  the  ordinary  charac- 
ter, with  the  exception  of  one.  The  specifi- 


60 


cation  gives  as  this  mixture  :  Gutta-percha 
3^  parts,  coal  dust  4  parts,  sawdust  2  parts, 
and  coal  tar  £  part.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  patentee's  idea  of  the  cost  of  such 
a  fuel  at  the  time,  it  is  pretty  conclusive 
what  our  own  opinion  would  be  now,  when 
we  look  at  the  proportion  to  the  whole  of 
such  an  extraordinary  ingredient  as  gutta- 
percha  and  its  value.  In  the  same  year  we 
find  the  usual  mixture  of  coal  dust  with  tar, 
and  sometimes  added  a  small  portion  of 
chloride  of  lime,  or  chloride  of  soda,  or 
chloride  of  potash,  to  take  away  smell  dur- 
ing combustion.  We  have  at  the  same 
time  "  cementing  coal  dust  with  E-ansome's 
silicious  paste;"  perhaps  the  latter  might  be 
used  as  suggested  before,  namely,  for  build- 
ing materials. 

In  1846,  although  we  get  six  methods  of 
treating  fuel,  they  are  of  a  very  ordinary 
character  and  the  only  change  is  one  men- 
tioning the  saturation  of  peat  with  tar,  oil, 
etc. 

In  the  year  following  there  is  a  complete 
dearth  as  far  as  fuel  patents  are  concerned, 
for  there  is  not  one  registered  for  that  year ; 


61 


but  in  1848  we  again  get  a  start  with  four ; 
but  I  find  that  there  is  still  but  very  little 
deviation  from  former  mixtures. 

For  the  three  years  including  1849-50-51, 
I  find  nineteen  patents  recorded  in  connec- 
tion with  the  artificial  fuel  question,  but  as 
a  rule,  many  of  them  are  merely  repeti- 
tions of  what  has  been  enumerated  before. 
One  names  nothing  but  tan  and  resin, 
which  I  should  imagine  might  make  a  very 
good  fire-lighter,  although  it  is  not  included 
in  that  category.  The  only  other  worth 
referring  to  within  the  time  I  have  just 
named  is  a  peculiar  treatment  of  peat, 
patented  in  1850.  The  following  is  an  ab- 
stract of  the  specification : — "Without  pre- 
viously drying  the  peat  we  treat  it  with 
waste  by  a  mill  in  a  way  similar  to  that  in 
which  chalk  is  treated  in  the  manufacture 
of  whiting.  The  resulting  liquor  is  made 
to  pass  through  a  strainer  of  wire  work 
fine  enough  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the 
large  fibres  into  the  tanks  or  backs  cut  in 
the  earth,  or  built  upon  the  surface  of  the 
ground  if  necessary,  where  it  is  left  to  de- 
posit the  finer  parts  of  the  peat.  When 


62 


this  is  effected  the  supernatant  liquor  is  run 
off  from  the  deposit,  and  the  magma  taken 
out  from  the  tanks  or  backs  and  dried  either 
by  the  air  or  sun,  or  on  arches  of  bricks  or 
other  absorbent  material  heated  by  flues 
underneath." 

In  1852,  out  of  seven  specifications  relat- 
ing to  artificial  fuels,  I  find  one  for  dis- 
solving peat  in  a  chemical  bath  and  then 
letting  it  dry  ;  and  another  specifying  one- 
twelfth  of  caustic  lime,  and  one-twelfth  of 
peat  charcoal  added  to  ten-twelfths  of  cut 
peat,  mixed  into  a  cement  and  moulded. 

For  the  year  1853  I  have  selected  two? 
out  of  a  total  of  nine  applications  during 
that  year.  The  first  I  give  on  the  ground 
of  its  peculiarity,  being  composed  of  one- 
third  of  sea  mud  to  two-thirds  of  sea- weed, 
and  to  2,000  Ibs.  of  this  mixture  is  added  4 
Ibs.  of  nitrate  of  lead.  Whether  such  in- 
gredients would  or  would  not  make  a  decent 
fuel  I  am  unable  to  say.  The  second  speci- 
fication for  the  same  year  shows  how  the 
same  ingredients,  that  are  now  old  to  us, 
are  still  being  used  and  in  what  proportions ; 
but  the  patentee  in  this  latter  case  goes  in 


63 


for  moulding  his  mixture  in  various  forms, 
and  altogether  departs  from  the  usual  an- 
tiquated brick  form.  During  the  same  year 
we  meet  again  with  the  small  coal  and  tar 
business  in  the  brick  form,  and  in  the 
specification  I  find  a  description  of  drying 
peat  by  heated  revolving  cylinders  ;  while 
yet  in  another  we  have  the  treating  of  peat 
chemically  while  in  the  pugmill. 

Out  of  a  number  of  eight  patents  in  1854 
for  fuel  there  is  not  one  of  interest  apart 
from  what  has  already  been  shown,  with 
the  exception  of  one  I  may  mention  that  is 
solely  for  the  form  or  shape  of  any  mixed 
or  artificial  fuel,  the  configuration  being 
various,  and  having  holes  or  passages 
through  them  for  the  purpose  of  better 
combustion. 

In  1855  we  number  six  patents. 

A  mixture  for  1856  well  shows  the  ex- 
tremes that  are  adopted  by  different  pat- 
entees in  proportioning  the  ingredients: 
take  here  the  enormus  bulk  of  clay,  83 
parts  to  coal  15  parts — to  me  rather  an 
extraordinary  proportion  ;  if  it  was  not  we 
should  I  think  have  heard  more  of  it  than 


64 


what  I  am  telling  you  now.  There  are 
nine  patents  for  this  year,  but  the  one 
referred  to  is  the  only  one  worth  notice, 
and  that  on  account  of  its  peculiarity. 

During  the  year  1857  there  is  not  any- 
thing worth  mentioning,  and  in  1858  we  get 
rye-flour  as  an  ingredient.  We  again  have 
ground  peat  mixed  with  tar. 

In  the  year  1860  the  number  of  patents 
fell  to  four,  and  the  only  one  I  shall  notice 
gives  equal  portions  of  human  or  animal 
excrement,  sawdust  or  chips,  and  small 
coal,  and  to  this  mixture  add  one-sixth 
part  clay. 

The  most  novel  from  the  1861  patents,  of 
which  there  are  five,  relates  to  making 
boxes  of  wood  about  the  size  of  a  brick, 
then  filling  them  with  coal  dust,  and  after- 
wards closing  them  up ;  in  fact,  it  is  en- 
closing a  brick  of  coal  in  a  wooden  case,  and 
then  using  it  for  fuel — a  rather  expensive 
method  I  should  think  of  using  timber  as 
an  ingredient. 

In  1862  there  are  four  patents  for  arti- 
ficial fuel,  but  not  anything  of  unusual  in- 
terest. 


65 


The  year  following  we  again  hear  of  sea- 
weed treatment  for  fuel  purposes.  In  one 
specification  I  find  lime  saturated  with  tar, 
which,  after  being  used  as  a  fuel,  will,  when 
ground,  make  a  good  cement,  certainly  a 
profitable  way  of  dealing  with  the  residue, 
especially  if  there  is  any  real  good  in  the 
fuel  portion  of  the  method.  These  two,  out 
of  five  patents  for  1863,  are  the  only  ones 
worth  attention,  with  the  exception  that  the 
last  named  process  was  duplicated  by  a 
subsequent  patent  a  few  months  after- 
wards. 

In  1864  we  reach  up  to  nine  patents  in. 
connection  with  the  subject,  and  one  is 
peculiar  in  its  ingredients.  The  patentee 
seems  rather  doubtful  as  to  the  proper 
relative  proportions,  for  he  names  peroxide 
of  manganese,  1  Ib.  to  10  Ibs.  ;  sulphate  of 
lime,  5  to  50  per  cent. ;  coal  or  coke,  100 
Ibs. ;  rosin  and  asphalt,  2  per  cent. ;  oils,  7 
to  12  per  cent. ;  rosin  or  pitch,  12  to  20  per 
cent.  In  the  remaining  patents  we  have 
90  parts  of  coal  to  10  parts  of  cow  dung 
twice  over ;  we  get  also  equal  portions  of 
peat  and  charcoal  pressed  together.  The 


66 


only  other  worth  mentioning  specifies  cut- 
ting peat  into  blocks,  putting  them  into  an 
air-tight  receiver,  exhausting  the  air  and 
moisture,  and  then  admitting  petroleum  or 
any  like  substance. 

I  have  placed  one  of  the  three  1865 
patents  among  those  worth  notice  as  a 
novel  composition ;  we  have  been  in  want 
of  one  lately,  and  I  think  this  supplies  the 
gap.  We  get  20  Ibs.  of  meal  to  3J  Ibs.  of 
pitch  or  tar,  and  2|  Ibs.  of  alum.  It  might 
make  a  very  good  fuel,  but  I  am  in  doubt 
as  to  both  supply  and  cost  of  the  chief 
ingredients.  One  of  the  remaining  patents 
treats  only  of  the  configuration  of  any  fuel. 

In  the  next  year  the  number  of  patents 
doubles,  but  there  are  not  any  of  interest 
with  the  exception  of  one  I  may  mention, 
which  gives  to  1  ton  of  coal,  2  cwt.  of  saw- 
dust, 40  gallons  of  tar,  and  2|  cwt.  of  salt. 

The  year  1867  reaches  ten  patents  on  the 
subject,  and  all  of  them  of  what  I  may 
term  the  ordinary  type.  One  is  simply  the 
coal  and  tar  brick  with  holes  pierced 
through  as  in  1864;  another  combines 
resin,  glue,  and  salt  with  coal  dust  at  a 


6T 


proportion  of  50  Ibs.  of  the  mixture  to  the 
ton  of  coal. 

In  1868  we  again  get  ten  patents  on  the 
same  question,  and  I  have  selected  two  for 
the  purpose  of  noticing  the  difference  be- 
tween the  simple  and  the  compound.  In 
the  first  case  we  have  8  per  cent,  of  coal 
tar  to  one  ton  of  coal  moulded  into  bricks. 
I  suppose  it  is  due  to  the  simplicity  of  the 
idea  of  glueing  small  coal  together  with 
tar  that  we  find -it  so  often  mentioned,  but 

1  wonder  if  the  patentees  could  be  aware  of 
the  age  of  the  mixture  at  the  time  of  securing 
their  patents,  when  no  doubt  it  was  as  com- 
mon an  article  in  fuel  commerce  as  it  ever 
has  been.   The  second  case  gives  very  care- 
ful proportions  of  delicate  ingredients,  for, 
it  is  stated,  to  17^  cwt.  of  coal  dust  and 

2  J  cwt.  of  clay,  must  be  added  5  Ibs.  of  rice, 
5  Ibs.  of  Indian  meal,   %  Ibs.  of  resin,  and 
20  Ibs.  of  asphalt.     I  believe  the  smaller 
portions  are  admitted  to  gain  the  object  of 
combustion  with  less  smoke  than  ordinary 
fuel.  In  the  same  year  we  have  two  patents 
with  the  same  ingredients  and  proportions 
as  nearly  corresponding  as  possible,  viz.,  to 


68 


1  ton  of  duff  add  2  cwt.  of  pitch  and  2  cwt. 
of  salt,  and  in  the  same  year  we  again  find 
turf  saturated  with  oils  or  other  like  sub- 
stances. 

During  1869  out  of  six  patents  I  may 
mention  two  of  precisely  the  same  treatment, 
viz.,  about  8  per  cent,  of  rosin  to  coal,  and 
another  where  carbolic  acid  is  introduced 
in  the  proportion  of  5  gallons  to  1  ton  of 
coal,  together  with  56  Ibs.  of  pitch  and  8 
Ibs.  of  salt. 

In  1870  seven  patents  are  recorded;  as 
the  date  is  nearing  the  present,  I  have 
taken  three  for  the  sake  of  comparison  with 
former  years.  In  the  first  we  get  the  10 
per  cent,  of  pitch,  to  90  per  cent,  of  coal 
and  some  sea  weed,  the  proportion  of  which 
is  not  stated.  The  second  is  a  compound 
of  silicate  of  soda,  salt,  lime,  and  sulphuric 
acid,  to  15  per  cent,  of  which  mixture  coal 
is  added.  The  third  patent  is  certainly  not 
novel,  but  suffices  to  trace  the  likness  as 
we  go  on.  We  also  hear  in  that  year,  of 
human  excrement  mixed  with  charcoal,  of 
chalk  with  charcoal  and  pitch,  and  another 
arrangement  of  taking  small  coal  and  grind- 


69 


ing  it  to  a  powder,  and  then  mixing  it  with 
pitch  or  tar.  We  must  bear  in  mind  this 
is  the  year  1870  ;  what  the  patentee's  idea 
could  have  been  respecting  the  cost  of  a  fuel 
that  required  coal  to  be  ground  to  powder, 
at  a  time  when  coal  itself  was  at  its  lowest, 
seems  strange ;  but  even  at  the  panic  prices 
such  a  fuel  could  not,  I  think,  have  com- 
peted with  coal ;  moreover,  I  cannot  under- 
stand why  the  coal  dust  should  be  ground 
at  all,  let  alone  "  to  a  powder." 

We  lower  to  five  patents  in  the  following 
year  (1871),  but  I  take  two  illustrations  to 
show,  in  the  one  case  the  costly  production, 
and  in  the  other  our  old  friend  up  again 
associated  with  a  little  food.  As  regards 
the  first,  to  take  25  per  cent,  of  creosote 
oil  to  68  per  cent,  of  coke,  and  add  5  per 
cent,  of  bituminous  coal,  and  2  per  cent,  of 
lime,  cannot  pay  commercially,  or  compete 
with  ordinary  fuel.  In  the  second  we  get 
our  usual  1  ton  of  coal,  to  which  is  added 
100  Ibs.  of  pitch  and  10  Ibs.  of  farina,  an 
ingredient  we  have  met  with  before  under 
another  designation.  I  may  remark  before 
closing  up  this  year  of  1871,  that  we  have 


70 


mentioned  in  a  specification  a  mixture  of 
blood  and  lime  with  small  coal. 

For  last  year,  1872,  I  find  nine  patents 
recorded,  and  again  of  the  stereotyped  com- 
binations. One.  patent  12  months  ago  is 
nearly  similar  to  the  patent  of  1  Sill.  From 
this  we  may  judge  what  progress  has  been 
made  in  the  last  52  years,  as  regards  arti- 
ficial fuels  of  this  particular  class,  and  re- 
member, of  a  class  that  has  been  found  the 
most  economical  in  production;  possibly,  too, 
the  most  efficient  for  the  purpose  for  which 
it  is  required.  It  is  needless  to  give  farther 
trouble  with  abstracts  of  specifications  ;  suf- 
ficient, I  think,  has  been  shown  to  illustrate 
a  doubtful  progress  in  the  artificial  fuel 
questions,  and  although  we  have  had,  sub- 
sequent t$  the  last  patent,  and  continue  to 
have,  applications  for  patents  for  artificial 
fuels,  especially  of  late,  there  is  not  any 
thing  new  in  them.  Really  some  of  the 
latest  specifications  read  almost  as  copies  of 
I  may  say,  dozens  that  have  appeared  before. 

In  taking  a  retrospect  of  the  various 
means  of  compounding  an  artificial  fuel, 
the  question  arises,  what  material  have  we 


71 


in  quantity  that  is  available  for  heat-produc- 
ing purposes  to  anything  like  the  extent  re- 
quired for  relieving  the  draw  upon  the  coal 
itself.  I  think  we  may  assume  that  the 
coal  residue  is  disposed  of,  or  will  be  in  the 
future,  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  without 
those  mixtures  that  appear  on  the  diagrams 
more  like  "household  receipts"  than  an 
article  of  consumption  demanded  in  millions 
of  tons  annually.  We  have  had  in  considera- 
tion sawdust,  tanner's  bark,  asphalt,  resin, 
and  almost  everything  that  will  burn  at  all ; 
but  whatever  use  the  whole  or  any  part  of 
these  constituents,  by  addition,  may  serve 
towards  making  a  good  heat-producing  fuel, 
it  will  be  admitted  that,  for  general  pur- 
poses, even  taking  domestic  consumption 
alone,  the  quantity  collectively  at  command 
is  anything  but  equal  to  the  demand ;  and 
taking  it  for  granted  that  certain  admix- 
tures will,  laboratorily,  give  certain  results 
in  percentage  of  heat  or  work,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  requirement  is  a  very 
great  and  a  national  one,  and  consequently 
any  substitute  for  coal  that  may  be  intro- 
duced must  be  simple  and  not  compound. 


Combinations  must  naturally  be  expen- 
sive, if  only  from  a  mechanical  point  of 
view,  whatever  may  be  the  value  of  the 
ingredients,  even  supposing  we  had  quality ; 
but  while  there  is  a  query  respecting  quan- 
tity, coupled  with  the  cost  of  quality,  I 
think  we  can  only  arrive  at  the  one  con- 
clusion, viz.,  take  the  most  quantitative 
substitute,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
simple,  and  see  of  what  value  it  is,  and  how 
it  can  be  dealt  with  to  perfect  it  sufficiently 
to  form  a  relief  to  coal. 

The  next,  as  compared  with  coal  in 
quantity  (putting  quality  on  one  side  at 
present),  is  "Peat,"  the  half-brother  to 
coal.  For  the  sake  of  comparison,  I  will 
take  the  relative  areas  of  coal  and  peat  as 
generally  estimated  for  Great  Britain,  viz., 
coal  about  7,750,000  acres,  and  peat  about 
6,000,000  acres,  and  taking  peat  as  averag- 
ing double  the  thickness  of  coal  over  the 
estimated  area,  we  get  12,000,000  acres  of 
peat  as  compared  with  7,750,000  acres  of 
coal  of  the  same  thickness  as  peat ;  this  is 
in  bulk.  Again,  take  peat  in  its  condensed 
form  as  equalling  one-fifth  of  its  average 


?3 


original  bulk,  we  then  get  2,500,000  acres 
of  peat  equal  in  density  to  coal,  or  say,  one- 
third.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however, 
that  coal  has  been  worked  to  an  extent 
quite  different  to  peat,  consequently  we  may 
infer  that  the  present  actual  relative  pro- 
portions between  the  two  must  be  much 
more  in  favor  of  peat  than  these  figures  re- 
present. 

In  passing,  it  will  be  as  well  to  notice 
here  why  the  question  of  manufacturing 
peat  into  a  marketable  fuel  is  of,  I  con- 
sider, great  importance  in  more  respects 
than  ono.  In  the  first  place  it  has  the 
unequivocal  advantage  of  being  procurable 
upon  the  surface  of  the  ground ;  and  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  difficulties  hereto- 
fore, or  even  at  present,  as  regards  drain- 
age, cutting,  and  general  treatment  of  peat, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  this  one  desidera- 
tum is  strongly  to  be  encouraged.  Morally 
speaking,  it  is  advisable  to  dwindle  down 
as  much  as  possible  the  extent  of  the  al- 
most inhuman  labor  below  the  surface  com- 
pulsory for  the  production  of  coal — and 
labor  that  very  few  of  those  uninitiated 


74 


could  by  any  stretch  of  imagination  antici- 
pate, even  excluding  the  risks  that  are  in 
constant  attendance  upon  such  labor — and 
also  take  into  consideration  the  ultimate 
result  of  the  process  upon  the  human  in- 
tellect, as  exemplified  only  too  visibly  of 
late,  a  result  which  gave  rise  at  the  moment 
to  the  controversy  of  how  to  economize  an 
article  of  consumption  that  necessitated 
such  uncivilized  labor  for  its  production. 
Of  course,  we  know  that  the  whole  of  this 
undesirable  labor  cannot  be  dispensed  with 
at  once,  but  we  must  confess  that  it  is  de- 
sirable to  aim  at  such  a  purpose,  and,  by 
the  utilization  of  peat  and  the  introduction 
of  coal-cutting  machines  below,  we  may 
soon  anticipate  a  reduction  in  the  extent  of 
underground  work. 

Respecting  the  calorific  power  of  peat,  as 
compared  with  coal,  I  think  we  may  safely 
assume  that  it  reaches,  in  efficiently  worked 
and  well  dried  peat,  an  average  of  75  per 
cent. ;  naturally  the  percentage  varies  con- 
siderably with  different  qualities  of  peat, 
some  results  being  much  higher  and  others 
much  lower,  but  I  think  the  above  to  be  a 
fair  average. 


75 


We  next  come  to  the  question,  "  Why 
has  peat  been  so  little  known  generally  as 
a  valuable  fuel,  although  staring  us  in  the 
face  by  thousands  upon  thousands  of  acres 
in  various  parts  of  the  country  ?"  The  an- 
swer is,  that  peat  in  its  natural  or  raw  state 
contains,  according  to  the  depth  from  sur- 
face and  nature  of  deposit,  a  very  great 
percentage  of  water,  and  it  has  been 
the  disposing  of  this  water  that  has 
proved  the  real  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
producing  peat  as  a  fuel  to  at  all  compete 
with  coal. 

In  referring  back  to  the  year  1800  we 
find  peat  mentioned  in  the  list,  but  it  is 
only  stated  as  one  of  the  ingredients  of  the 
mixture,  and  it  does  not  specify  how  it  is 
proposed  to  treat  it  so  as  to  make  it  avail- 
able for  mixing;  but  in  1837  we  have  men- 
tion of  "  Operations  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
verting peat  moss  and  peat  turf  or  bog  into 
fuel."  It  is  stated  to  be  first  cut  up  and 
then  compressed  and  dried  by  artificial  or 
other  heats ;  and  there  are  several  methods 
named  respecting  the  compression,  such  as 
hydraulic  presses,  levers,  and  screws. 


76 


We  all  know  that  for  many  years  past 
machinery  has  been  in  operation  for  con- 
verting peat  into  a  commercial  or  market- 
able fuel,  and  there  are  hundreds  of  tons 
of  it  being  used ;  but  still  the  question  is, 
why  only  in  hundreds  of  tons,  when  it 
ought  to  be,  I  may  say,  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  tons  ?  The  answer  is,  as  I  said  be- 
fore, that  the  expenses  incurred  in  trying 
to  get  rid  of  the  water  to  an  extent  that 
will  bring  the  specific  gravity  of  the  peat  to 
something  approaching  that  of  coal,  are  so 
great,  that  it  has  been  impossible  to  place 
it  before  the  public  in  competition  with  coal 
in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  at  the  low 
prices  coal  has  been  standing  at  for  years, 
until  lately ;  and  it  is  only  in  such  cases  as 
the  late  crisis  that  latent  energy  is  wakened 
up  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  what  can  be 
done.  I  maintain  that,  let  the  price  of  coal 
come  down  to  its  own  standard,  or  even 
lower,  we  must  not  lose  the  patent  fuel 
question  out  of  sight  now  that  necessity  has 
compelled  us  to  grapple  with  it.  We  know 
how  easily  circumstances  are  allowed  to 
fall  into  their  normal  state  after  an  excite^ 


77 


ment  is  over;  but  this  is  a  question  of 
national  importance,  and  now  that  it  is 
proved  that  peat  cart  be'treated  in  a  manner 
that  will  almost  bring  it  down  weight  for 
weight  in  equal  bulk  with  coal,  and  that  it 
can  be  brought  into  the  market  at  a  much 
less  cost  than  coal  at  its  cheapest,  I  trust 
that  we  shall  soon  have  it  as  common  an 
"  household  word"  as  coal,  especially  for 
domestic  use.  At  the  Dartmoor  prison  peat 
has  for  a  long  time  performed  every  func- 
tion required  of  coal  ;  it  warms  the  whole 
place  and  is  also  converted  into  gas  for 
their  own  consumption,  and  all  this  is  done 
with  peat  in  a  much  more  imperfect  state 
than  it  can  now  be  produced. 

It  may  perhaps  be  interesting  here  to 
glance  at  the  methods  employed  in  treating 
peat,  and  the  results  obtained.  I  will  again 
revert  to  its  remarkable  power  of  retaining 
water  ;  when  simply  dried  in  the  air,  with- 
out any  preparation,  it  will  only  part  with 
about  70  per  cent,  of  its  moisture,  no  matter 
how  long  the  exposure.  If  moderately  cut 
up,  or  macerated,  and  then  pressed  and 
air-dried,  it  will  still  keep  back  about  20  per 


78 


cent.,  and  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  more  the  moisture  retained,  t"he  less  the 
calorific  power  of  the  peat;  consequently, 
the  drier  the  peat  can  be  produced  the 
greater  the  heating  power.  The  great 
desideratum,  therefore,  is  to  get  rid  of  the 
whole  of  the  moisture,  and  if  not  all,  as 
much  of  it  as  we  possibly  can.  Artificial 
means  of  drying  after  compression  have 
often  been  tried,  but,  even  supposing  that 
such  a  process  resulted  in  a  production  as 
perfect  as  could  be  wished,  the  very  fact  of 
having  to  consume  fuel  to  obtain  the  result, 
upsets  all  economical  views  of  the  case  and 
thereby  makes  it  too  expensive  for  competi- 
tion with  coal. 

To  get  peat  to  be  universally  adopted  it 
is  imperative  that  in  the  first  place  it  must 
be  freed  from  the  whole  of  the  moisture,  or 
next  door  to  it,  for  in  a  perfect  condensed 
state  it  will  give  its  greatest  value  in  units 
of  heat  and  take  up  the  least  stowage,  which 
is  very  often  a  consideration  ;  in  the  second 
.place,  it  must  be  produced  at  a  much  less 
cost  than  ever  coal  can  come  to,  otherwise 
it  will  never  be  of  commercial  value. 


79 


To  gain  these  points  there  is  only  one 
way  of  getting  at  it,  viz.,  thorough  mastica- 
tion or  trituration  of  the  raw  material.  I 
emphasize  the  word  "  thorough  "  for  the 
reason  that  if  the  fibrous  rooty  portions  of 
the  peat  are  not  cut  up  minutely,  so  as  to 
release  the  water  and  air  previously  held 
fast  by  capillary  attraction,  you  will  never 
get  rid  of  the  moisture.  Then  after  thorough 
mastication,  simple  exposure  to  the  atmos- 
phere for  drying,  and  not  artificial  means. 
From  the  controversy  on  this  question  some 
time  ago,  it  appears  that  this  approach  to 
perfection,  if  we  may  so  call  it,  has  only 
lately  been  accomplished  by  Clayton's  ma- 
chinery, which  in  my  own  judgment  seems 
in  design  to  be  undoubtedly  the  best  yet 
adapted  for  the  special  purpose,  and  cer- 
tainly from  the  results  obtained  I  think  we 
may  now  hope  speedily  to  see  the  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  bog,  now  so  much  waste 
land,  being  made  use  of  to  an  universal 
benefit. 

The  machinery  in  question  accomplishes 
what  has  long  been  aimed  at,  not  only  in 
the  mechanical  treatment  of  the  material, 


80 


but  I  believe  in  cost  of  production  as  well ; 
but  as  it  is  not  the  purport  of  this  paper  to 
subscribe  or  advocate  any  particular  ma- 
chinery or  process  for  manufacturing  either 
peat  or  other  fuel,  sufficient  will  have  been 
said  on  that  point. 

The  real  object  of  this  paper  has  been  to 
glance  rapidly  through  the  past  history  of 
artificial  fuels  for  the  purpose  of  comparing 
with  the  present  enthusiastic  attempts  that 
are  being  weekly  brought  to  public  notice 
through  the  patent  lists  as  new,  and  to  note 
what  advance  has  been  made ;  but  if  you 
take  the  trouble  to  peruse  some  of  the  latest, 
and  very  latest,  specifications — and  some  of 
them  are  not  very  long — and  then  turn  to 
the  diagram  list  of  1799,  you  will  find  the 
same  ingredients  anticipated,  although  pro- 
portions may  vary,  which  has  been  the  case, 
more  or  less,  ever  since  that  date.  I  think, 
therefore,  you  will  agree  with  me  that  as 
far  as  compound  artificial  fuels  are  con- 
cerned there  has  been  no  real  advance,  for 
to  compare  at  all  with  coal  it  must  be  simple 
and  in  quantity. 

The  only  advance  of  real  good,  seems  to 


81 


be  the  stride  lately  made  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  peat ;  and  if  the  quality  and  market- 
able price  only  turns  out  what  is  promised, 
and  I  do  not  see  any  reason  to  doubt  the 
good  faith  of  it,  I  think  we  may  congratu- 
late ourselves  and  the  community  at  large 
in  having  the  question  at  last  solved,  of  be- 
ing able  to  procure  a  fuel  in  quantity  and 
of  a  quality  combining  cleanliness  in  its 
purchasable  form,  together  with  a  bright 
fire,  less  smoke,  and  still  less  residue  dur- 
ing combustion. 

In  conclusion  I  will  reiterate  the  hope  that 
the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  we  shall  see 
vast  tracts  of  what  is  at  present  so  much 
waste  and  useless  country  swarming  with 
industry  on  the  surface,  which  both  physi- 
cally and  morally  will  be  something  towards 
alleviating  the  wretched  labor  at  present 
required  below  the  surface. 


\*  Any  book  in  this  Catalogue  sent  Jre&  by  matt  &n 
receipt  of  price. 


VALUABLE 

SCIENTIFIC     BOOKS, 

PUBLISHED   BY 

D.  VAN   NOSTRAND, 

23  MURRAY  STREET  AND  27  WARREN   STREET, 
NEW  YORK. 


FRANCIS.  Lowell  Hydraulic  Experiments,  being  a 
selection  from  Experiments  on  Hydraulic  Motors,  on 
the  Flow  of  Water  over  Weirs,  in  Open  Canals  of 
Uniform  Rectangular  Section,  and  through  submerg- 
ed Orifices  and  diverging  Tubes.  Made  at  Lowell, 
Massachusetts.  By  James  B.  Francis,  C.  E.  2<i 
edition,  revised  and  enlarged,  with  many  new  experi- 
ments, and  illustrated  with  twenty-three  copperplate 
engravings,  i  vol.  410,  cloth $15  o* 

ROEBLING  (J.  A.)  Long  and  Short  Span  Railway 
Bridges.  By  John  A.  Roebling,  C.  E.  Illustrated 
with  large  copperplate  engravings  of  plans  and  views. 
Imperial  folio,  cloth 25  oo 

CLARKE  (T.  C.)  Description  of  the  Iron  Railway 
Bridge  over  the  Mississippi  River,  at  Quincy,  Illi- 
nois. Thomas  Curtis  Clarke,  Chief  Engineer. 
Illustrated  with  21  lithographed  plans,  i  vol.  410, 
cloth 7  50 

TUNNER  (P.)  A  Treatise  on  Roll-Turning  for  the 
Manufacture  of  Iron.  By  Peter  Tunner.  Trans- 
lated and  adapted  by  John  B.  Pearse,  of  the  Penn- 


to.  VAN  NOSTRAND'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

sylvania   Steel   Works,   -with  numerous   engravings 

wood  cuts  and  folio  atlas  of  plates. $10  oa 

ISHERWOOD  (B.  F.)  Engineering  Precedents  for 
Steam  Machinery.  Arranged  in  the  most  practical 
and  useful  manner  for  Engineers.  By  B.  F.  Isher- 
\yood,  Civil  Engineer,  U.  S.  Navy.  With  Illustra- 
tions. Two  volumes  in  one.  8vo,  cloth $2  50 

BAUERMAN.  Treatise  on  the  Metallurgy  of  Iron, 
containing  outlines  of  the  History  of  Iron  Manufac- 
ture, methods  of  Assay,  and  analysis  of  Iron  Ores, 
processes  of  manufacture  of  Iron  and  Steel,  etc.,  etc. 
By  H.  Bauerman.  First  American  edition.  Revised 
and  enlarged,  with  an  Appendix  on  the  Martin  Pro- 
cess for  making  Steel,  from  the  report  of  Abram  S. 
Hewitt.  Illustrated  with  numerous  wood  engravings. 

lamo,  cloth 2  oo 

CAMPIN    on   the   Construction   of   Iron   Roofs.      By 

Francis  Campin.     8vo,  with  plates,  cloth 30* 

COLLINS.  The  Private  Book  of  Useful  Alloys  and 
Memoranda  for  Goldsmiths,  Jewellers,  &c.  By 

James  E.  Collins.     i8mo,  cloth 75 

CIPHER  AND  SECRET  LETTER  AND  TELE- 
GRAPHIC CODE,  with  Hogg's  Improvements. 
The  most  perfect  secret  code  ever  invented  or  dis- 
covered. Impossible  to  read  without  the  key.  By 

C.  S.  Larrabee.     i8mo,  cloth i  oo 

COLBURN.    The  Gas  Works  of  London.      By  Zerah 

Colburn,  C.  E.     i  vol    i2mo,  boards 60 

CRAIG  (B.  F.)  Weights  and  Measures.  An  account 
of  the  Decimal  System,  with  Tables  of  Conversion 
for  Commercial  and  Scientific  Uses.  By  B.  F.  Craig, 

M.D.     i  vol.  square  321110,  limp  cloth 50 

NUGENT.  Treatise  on  Optics;  or,  Light  and  Sight, 
theoretically  and  practically  treated;  with  the  appli- 
cation to  Fine  Art  and  Industrial  Pursuits.  By  E. 
Nugent.  With  one  hundred  and  three  illustrations. 

izmo,  cloth 2  oo 

GLYNN  (J.)  Treatise  on  the  Power  of  Water,  as  ap- 
plied to  drive  Flour  Mills,  and  to  give  motion  to 
Turbines  and  other  Hydrostatic  Engines.  By  j  oseph 


D.  VAN   NOSTRAND  S   PUBLICATIONS. 

Glynn.     Third  edition,   revised  and  enlarged,  with 

numerous  illustrations.     i2mo,  cloth $1   oo 

HUMBER.  A  Handy  Book  for  the  Calculation  of 
Strains  in  Girders  and  similar  Structures,  and  their 
Strength,  consisting  of  Formulas  and  corresponding 
Diagrams,  with  numerous  details  for  practical  appli- 
cation. By  William  Humber.  i2mo,  fully  illus- 
trated, cloth 2  50 

GRUNER.  The  Manufacture  of  Steel.  By  M.  L. 
Gruner.  Translated  from  the  French,  by  Lenox 
Smith,  with  an  appendix  on  the  Bessamer  process  in 
the  United  States,  by  the  translator.  Illustrated  by 
Lithographed  drawings  and  wood  cuts.  8vo,  cloth. .  3  50 

AUCHINCLOSS.  Link  and  Valve  Motions  Simplified. 
Illustrated  with  37  wood-cuts,  and  21  lithographic 
plates,  together  with  a  Travel  Scale,  and  numerous 
useful  Tables.  By  W.  S.  Auchincloss.  8vo,  cloth..  3  oo 

VAN  BUR  EN.  Investigations  of  Formulas,  for  the 
strength  of  the  Iron  parts  of  Steam  Machinery.  By 
J.  D.  Van  Buren,  Jr.,  C.  E.  Illustrated,  Svo,  cloth.  2  oo 

JOYNSON.  Designing  and  Construction  of  Machine 

Gearing.  Illustrated,  Svo,  cloth z  oo 

GILLMORE.  Coignet  Beton  and  other  Artificial  Stone. 
By  Q.  A.  Gillmore,  Major  U.  S.  Corps  Engineers. 
9  plates,  views,  &c.  Svo,  cloth 250 

SAELTZ  E  R.  Treatise  on  Acoustics  in  connection  with 
Ventilation.  By  Alexander  Saeltzer,  Architect, 
i  zmo,  cloth 2  oo 

THE  EARTH'S  CRUST.  A  handy  Outline  of  Geo- 
logy. By  David  Page.  Illustrated,  iSmo,  cloth 75 

DICTIONARY  of  Manufactures,  Mining,  Machinery, 
and  the  Industrial  Arts.  By  George  Dodd.  i2mo, 
cloth 2  OQ 

FRANCIS.  On  the  Strength  of  Cast-iron  Pillars,  with 
Tables  for  the  use  of  Engineers,  Architects,  and 
Builders.  By  James  B.  Francis,  Civil  Engineer, 
i  vol.  Svo,  cloth ' ••»  •  ?  9$ 


D.  TAN  NOSTRAND'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

GILLMORE  (Gen.  Q.  A.)  Treatise  on  Limes,  Hy- 
draulic Cements,  and  Mortars.  Papers  on  Practical 
Engineering,  U.  S.  Engineer  Department,  No.  9, 
containing  Reports  of  numerous  Experiments  con- 
ducted in  New  York  City,  during  the  years  1858  to 
1861,  inclusive.  By  Q.  A.  Gillmore,  Bvt.  Maj  -Gen., 
U.  S.  A.,  Major,  Corps  of  Engineers.  With  num- 
erous illustrations,  i  vol,  8vo,  cloth $4  oo 

HARRISON.  The  Mechanic's  Tool  Book,  with  Prac- 
tical Rules  and  Suggestions  for  Use  of  Machinists, 
Iron  Workers,  and  others.  By  W.  B.  Harrison, 
associate  editor  of  the  "American  Artisan."  Illus- 
trated with  44  engravings.  i2mo,  cloth I  50 

HENRICI  (Olaus).  Skeleton  Structures,  especially  in 
their  application  to  the  Building  of  Steel  and  Iron 
Bridges.  By  Olaus  Henrici.  With  folding  plates 
and  diagrams,  i  vol.  8vo,  cloth 3  oo 

HEWSON(Wm.)  Principles  and  Practice  of  Embank 
ing  Lands  from  River  Floods,  as  applied  to  the  Le- 
vees of  the  Mississippi.  By  William  Hewson,  Civil 
Engineer,  i  vol.  8vo,  cloth 2  oo 

HOLLEY  (A.  L.)  Railway  Practice.  American  and 
European  Railway  Practice,  in  the  economical  Gen- 
eration,of  Steam,  including  the  Materials  and  Con- 
struction of  Coal- burning  Boilers,  CombustioJi,  the 
Variable  Blast,  Vaporization,  Circulation,  Superheat- 
ing, Supplying  and  Heating  Feed-water,  etc.,  and 
the  Adaptation  of  Wood  and  Coke-burning  Engines 
to  Coal-burning ;  and  in  Permanent  Way,  including 
Road-bed,  Sleepers,  Rails,  Joint-fastenings,  Street 
Railways,  etc.,  etc.  By  Alexander  L.  Holley,  B.  P. 
With  77  lithographed  plates,  i  vol.  folio,  cloth.  ...  12  oo 

KING  (W.  H.)  Lessons  and  Practical  Notes  on  Steam, 
the  Steam  Engine,  Propellers,  etc.,  etc.,  for  Young 
Marine  Engineers,  Students,  and  others.  By  the 
late  W.  H.  King,  U.  S.  Navy.  Revised  by  Chief 
Engineer  J.  W.  King,  U.  S.  Navy.  Twelfth  edition, 
enlarged.  8vo,  cloth 2  oo 

MINI  FIE  (Wm.)  Mechanical  Drawing.  A  Text-Book 
:?f  Geometrical  Drawing  for  the  use  of  Mechanic! 

4 


£.   VAN   NOSTBANDS  PUBLICATIONS. 

an&  Schools,  in  which  the  Definitions  and  Rules  ot 
Geometry  are  familiarly  explained ;  the  Practical 
Problems  are  arranged,  from  the  most  simple  to  the 
more  complex,  and  in  their  description  technicalities 
are  avoided  as  much  as  possible.  With  illustrations 
for  Drawing  Plans,  Sections,  and  Elevations  of  Rail- 
ways and  Machinery ;  ah  Introduction  to  Isometrical 
Drawing,  and  an  Essay  on  Linear  Perspective  and 
Shadows.  Illustrated  with  over  200  diagrams  en- 
graved on  steel.  By  Wm.  Minifie,  Architect.  Sev- 
enth edition.  With  an  Appendix  on  the  Theory  and 

Application  of  Colors,     i  vol.  8vo,  cloth $4  oo 

"It  is  the  best  work  on  Drawing  that  we  have  ever  seen,  and  is 
especially  a  text-book  of  Geometrical  Drawing  lor  the  use  of  Mechanics 
and  Schools.  No  young  Mechanic,  such  as  a  Machinists,  Engineer,  Cabi- 
net-maker, Millwright,  or  Carpenter,  should  be  without  it."— Scientific 
American. 


•  Geometrical  Drawing.     Abridged  from  the  octavo 


edition,  for  the  use  of  Schools.  Illustrated  with  48 
steel  plates.  Fifth  edition,  i  vol.  i2mo,  cloth....  2  oc 

STILLMAN  (Paul.)  Steam  Engine  Indicator,  and  the 
Improved  Manometer  Steam  and  Vacuum  Gauges— 
their  Utility  and  Application.  By  Paul  Stillman. 
New  edition,  i  vol.  121110,  flexible  cloth i  oo 

SWEET  (S.  H.)  Special  Report  on  Coal;  showing  its 
Distribution,  Classification,  and  cost  delivered  over 
different  routes  to  various  points  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  the  principal  cities  on  the  Atlantic  Coast. 
By  S.  H.  Sweet.  With  maps,  i  vol.  8vo,  cloth 3  oo 

WALKER  (W.  H.)  Screw  Propulsion.  Notes  on 
Screw  Propulsion  :  its  Rise  and  Historv.  By  Capt. 
W.  H.  Walker,  U,  S.  Navy,  i  vol.  8vo,  cloth 75 

WARD  (J.  H.)  Steam  for  the  Million.  A  popular 
Treatise  on  Steam  and  its  Application  to  the  Useful 
Arts,  especially  to  Navigation.  By  J.  H.  War4, 
Commander  U.  S.  Navy.  New  and  revised  edition, 
i  vol.  8vo,  cloth i  oo 

WEISBACH  (Julius).  Principles  of  the  Mechanics  of 
Machinery  and  Engineering.  By  Dr.  Julius  Weis- 
bach,  of  Freiburg.  Translated  from  the  last  German 
edition.  ;  Vol.  I.,  8vo,  cloth. . jo  09 


r>.  VAN  NOSTBAND'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

DIEDRICH.  The  Theory  of  Strains,  a  Compendium 
for  the  calculation  and  construction  of  Bridges,  Roofs, 
and  Cranes,  with  the  application  of  Trigonometrical 
Notes,  containing  the  most  comprehensive  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  Resulting  strains  for  a  perman- 
ent Load,  as  also  for  a  combined  (Permanent  and 
Rolling)  Load.  In  two  sections,  adadted  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  present  time.  By  John  Diedrich, 
0.  E.  Illustrated  by  numerous  plates  and  diagrams. 
8vo,  cloth M  ,5  oo 

WILLIAMSON  (R.  S.)  On  the  useof  the  Barometer  on 
Surveys  and  Reconnoissances.  Part  I.  Meteorology 
in  its  Connection  with  Hypsometry.  Part  II.  Baro- 
metric Hypsometry.  By  R.  S.  Wiliamson,  Bvt. 
Lieut. -Col.  U.  S.  A.,  Major  Corps  of  Engineers. 
With  Illustrative  Tables  and  Engravings.  Paper 
No.  15,  Professional  Papers,  Corps  of  Engineers, 
i  vol.  4to,  cloth 15  oo 

POOK  (S.  M.)  Method  of  Comparing  the  Lines  and 
Draughting  Vessels  Propelled  by  Sail  or  Steam. 
Including  a  chapter  on  Laying  off  on  the  Mould- 
Loft  Floor.  By  Samuel  M.  Pook,  Naval  Construc- 
tor, i  vol.  8vo,  with  illustrations,  cloth 5  oo 

ALEXANDER  (J.  H.)  Universal  Dictionary  of 
Weights  and  Measures,  Ancient  and  Modern,  re- 
duced to  the  standards  of  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica. By  J.  H.  Alexander.  New  edition,  enlarged, 
i  vol.  8vo,  cloth 3  50 

BROOKLYN  WATER  WORKS.  Containing  a  De- 
scriptive Account  of  the  Construction  of  the  Works, 
and  also  Reports  on  the  Brooklyn,  Hartford,  Belle- 
ville and  Cambridge  Pumping  Engines.  With  illustra- 
tions, i  vol.  folio,  cloth 

RICHARDS'  INDICATOR.  A  Treatise  on  the  Rich- 
ards Steam  Engine  Indicator,  with  an  Appendix  by 
F.  W.  Bacon,  M.  E.  i8mo,  flexible,  cloth i  99 

6 


D.  VAX  NOSTRAND'S  PUBLICATIONS, 

POPE.  Modern  Practice  of  the  Electric  Telegraph.  A 
Hand  Book  for  Electricians  and  operators.  By  Frank 
L.  Pope.  Eighth  edition,  revised  and  enlarged,  and 

fully  illlustrated.     8vo,  cloth $2.00 

"  There  is  no  other  work  of  this  kind  in  the  English  language  that  con- 
tains in  so  small  a  compaasso  much  practical  information  in  the  appli- 
cation of  galvanic  electricity  to  telegraphy.  It  should  be  in  the  hands  of 
erery  one  interested  in  telegraphy,  or  the  use  of  Batteries  for  other  pur- 
poses.' 

MORSE.  Examination  of  the  Telegraphic  Apparatus 
and  the  Processes  in  Telegraphy.  By  Samuel  F. 
Morse,  LL.D.,  U-  S.  Commissioner  Paris  Universal 
Exposition,  1867.  Illustrated,  8vo,  cloth $2  oo 

SABINE.  History  and  Progress  of  the  Electric  Tele- 
graph, with  descriptions  of  some  of  the  apparatus. 
By  Robert  Sabine,  C  E.  Second  edition,  with  ad- 
ditions, izmo,  cloth i  25 

CULLEY.  A  Hand-Book  of  Practical  Telegraphy.  By 
R.  S.  CulJey,  Engineer  to  the  Electric  and  Interna- 
tional Telegraph  Company.  Fourth  edition,  revised 
and  enlarged.  Illustrated  8vo,  cloth 5  oo 

BENET.  Electro-Ballistic  Machines,  and  the  Schultz 
Chronoscope.  By  Lieut. -Col.  8.  V.  Benet,  Captain 
of  Ordnance,  U.  S.  Army.  Illustrated,  second  edi- 
tion, 410,  cloth 3  oo 

MICHAELIS.  The  Le  Boulenge  Chronograph,  with 
three  Lithograph  folding  plates  of  illustrations.  By 
Brevet  Captain  O.  E.  Michaelis,  First  Lieutenant 
Ordnance  Corps,  U.  S.  Army,  4to,  cloth 3  oo 

ENGINEERING  FACTS  AND  FIGURES  An 
Annual  Register  of  Progress  in  Mechanical  Engineer- 
ing and  Construction,  for  the  years  1863,  64,  65,  66, 
67,  68.  Fully  illustrated,  6  vols.  i8mo,  cloth,  $2.50 
per  vol.,  each  volume  sold  separately 

HAMILTON.  Useful  Information  for  Railway  Men. 
Compiled  by  W.  G«  Hamilton,  Engineer.  Fifth  edi- 
tion, revised  and  enlarged,  562  pages  Pocket  form. 

Morocco,  gilt 2  oo 

7 


r>.  VAN  NOSTRAND'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


STUART.  The  Civil  and  Military  Engineers  of  Amer- 
ica. By  Gen.  C.  B.  Stuart.  With  9  finely  executed 
portraits  of  eminent  engineers,  and  illustrated  by 
engravings  of  some  of  the  most  important  works  con- 
structed in  America.  8vo,  cloth $5  oo 

STONE Y.  The  Theory  of  Strains  in  Girders  and  simi- 
lar structures,  with  observations  on  the  application  of 
Theory  to  Practice,  and  Tables  of  Strength  and  other 
properties  of  Materials.  By  Bindon  B.  Stoney,  B.  A. 
New  and  revised  edition,  enlarged,  with  numerous 
engravings  on  wood,  by  Oldham.  Royal  8vo,  664 
pages.  Complete  in  one  volume.  8vo,  cloth 1500 

SHREVE.  A  Treatise  on  the  Strength  of  Bridges  and 
Roofs.  Comprising  the  determination  of  Algebraic 
formulas  for  strains  in  Horizontal,  Inclined  or  Rafter, 
Triangular,  Bowstring,  Lenticular  and  other  Trusses, 
from  fixed  and  moving  loads,  with  practical  applica- 
tions and  examples,  for  the  use  of  Students  and  Engi- 
neers. By  Samuel  H.  Shreve,  A.  M.,  Civil  Engineer. 
87  wood  cut  illustrations.  8vo,  cloth 5  oo 

MERRILL.  Iron  Truss  Bridges  for  Railroads.  The 
method  of  calculating  strains  in  Trusses,  with  a  care- 
ful comparison  of  the  most  prominent  Trusses,  in 
reference  to  economy  in  combination,  etc.,  etc.  By 
Brevet.  Col.  William  E.  Merrill,  U  S.  A.,  Major 
Corps  of  Engineers,  with  nine  lithographed  plates  of 
Illustrations.  4to,  cloth 500 

WHIPPLE.  An  Elementary  and  Practical  Treatise  on 
Bridge  Building.  An  enlarged  and  improved  edition 
of  the  author's  original  work.  By  S.  Whipple,  C  E. , 
inventor  of  the  Whipple  Bridges,  &c.  Illustrated 
8vo,  cloth 4  oo 

THE  KANSAS  CITY  BRIDGE.  With  an  account 
of  the  Regimen  of  the  Missouri  River,  and  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  methods  used  for  Founding  in  that  River. 
By  O.  Chanute,  Chief  Engineer,  and  George  Morri- 
son, Assistant  Engineer.  Illustrated  with  five  litho- 
graphic views  and  twelve  plates  of  plans.  4to,  cloth,  6  «o 
8 


r>.  v^i?  KOSTRAND  s  PUBLICATIOHH. 


MAC  CORD.  A  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Slide  Valve 
by  Eccentrics,  examining  by  methods  the  action  of  the 
Eccentric  upon  the  Slide  Valve,  and  explaining  the 
Practical  processes  of  laying  out  the  movements, 
adapting  the  valve  for  its  various  duties  in  the  steam 
engine.  For  the  use  of  Engineers,  Draughtsmen, 
Machinists,  and  Students  of  Valve  Motions  in  gene 
ral.  By  C.  W.  Mac  Cord,  A.  M. ,  Professor  of  Me- 
chanical Drawing,  Stevens'  Institute  of  Technology, 
Hoboken,  N.  J.  Illustrated  by  8  full  page  copper- 
plates. 410 .  cloth $4  oo 

KIRKWOOD.  Report  on  the  Filtration  of  River 
Waters,  for  the  supply  of  cities,  as  practised  in 
Europe,  made  to  the  Board  of  Water  Commissioners 
of  the  City  of  St.  Louis.  By  James  P  Kirkwood. 
Illustrated  by  30  double  p'ate  engravings.  4to,  cloth,  15  oo 

PLATTNER.  Manual  of  Qualitative  and  Quantitative 
Analysis  with  the  Blow  1'ipe.  From  the  last  German 
edition,  revised  and  enlarged.  By  Prof.  Th.  Richter. 
of  the  Royal  Saxon  Mining  Academy.  Translated 
by  Prof-  H.  B.  Cornwall,  Assistant  in  the  Columbia 
School  of  Mines,  New  York  assisted  by  John  H. 
Caswell.  Illustrated  with  87  wood  cuts,  and  one 
lithographic  plate.  Second  edition,  revised*  560 
pages,  Svo,  cloth 7  50 

FLYMPTON.  The  Blow  Pipe.  A  system  of  Instruc- 
tion in  its  practical  use  being  a  graduated  course  of 
analysis  for  the  use  of  students,  and  all  those  engaged 
in  the  examination  of  metallic  combinations  Second 
edition,  with  au  appendix  and  a  copious  index.  By 
Prof.  Geo  W.  Plympton,  of  the  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute, Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  i  zmo,  cloth 2  oo 

PYNCHON.  Introduction  to  Chemical  Physics,  design- 
ed for  the  use  of  Academies,  Colleges  and  High 
Schools.  Illustrated  with  numerous  engravings,  and 
containing  copious  experiments  with  directions  for 

S-eparing  them.       By   Thomas    Ruggles    Pynchon, 
A.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  the  Natural  Sci- 
ences, Trinity  College,  Hartford     New  edition,  re- 
vised and  enlarged  and  illustrated  by  269  illustrations 
on  wood.     Crown,  Svo.  cloth 3  09 

9 


D.  VAN  NOSTKAND'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

BLIOT  AND  STORER.  A  compendious  Manual  of 
Qualitative  Chemical  Analysis.  By  Charles  W. 
Eliot  and  Frank  H.  Storer.  Revised  with  the  Co- 
operation of  the  authors.  By  William  R.  Nichols, 
Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Massachusetts  Insti- 
tute of  Technology  Illustrated,  lamo,  cloth $i  50 

RAM  M  ELS  BERG.  Guide  to  a  course  of  Quantitative 
Chemical  Analysis,  especially  of  Minerals  and  Fur- 
nace Products.  Illustrated  by  Examples  By  C.  F. 
Rammelsberg.  Translated  by  J.  Towler,  M.  D. 
8vo,  cloth 2  25 

EGLESTON.  Lectures  on  Descriptive  Mineralogy,  de- 
livered at  the  School  of  Mines.  Columbia  College. 
By  Professor  T.  Egleston.  Illustrated  by  34  Litho- 
graphic Plates.  8vo,  cloth 4  5* 

MITCHELL.  A  Manual  of  Practical  Assaying.  By 
John  Mitchell.  Third  edition.  Edited  by  William 
Crookes,  F.  R.  S.  8vo,  cloth 10  oo 

WATT'S  Dictionary  of  Chemistry.  New  and  Revised 
edition  complete  in  6  vols.  8vo  cloth,  $62.00  Sup- 
plementary volume  sold  separately.  Price,  cloth. . .  9  oo 

RANDALL.  Quartz  Operators  Hand- Book.  By  P.  M. 
Randall.  New  edition,  revised  and  enlarged,  fully 
illustrated.  i2mo,  cloth 200 

SILVERSMITH.  A  Practical  Hand-Book  for  Miners, 
Metallurgists,  and  Assayers,  comprising  the  most  re- 
cent improvements  in  the  disintegration  amalgama- 
tion, smelting,  and  parting  of  the  i  recious  ores,  with 
a  comprehensive  Digest  of  the  Mining  Laws.  Greatly 
augmented,  revised  and  corrected.  By  Julius  Silver- 
smith. Fourth  edition.  Profusely  illustrated.  12010, 
cloth 3  o» 

THE  USEFUL  METALS  AND  THEIR  ALLOYS, 
including  Mining  Ventilation,  Mining  Jurisprudence, 
and  Metallurgic  Chemistry  employed  in  the  conver- 
sion of  Iron,  Copper,  Tin,  Zinc,  Antimony  and  Lead 
ores,  with  their  applications  to  the  Industrial  Arts. 
By  Scoffren,  Truan,  Clay,  Oxland,  Fairbairn,  and 

•thers.     Fifth  edition,  haff  calf 3  75 

10 


D.  VAN  NOSTRAND  S  PUBLICATIONS. 

JOYNSON.  The  Metals  used  in  construction,  Iron, 
Steel,  Bessemer  Metal,  etc ,  etc.  By  F.  H.  Joynson, 
Illustrated,  lamo,  cloth » $o  75 

VON  COTTA,  Treatise  on  Ore^ Deposits.  By  Bern- 
hard  Von  Cotta,  Professor  ot  Geology  in  the  Royal 
School  of  Mines,  Freidberg,  Saxony.  Translated 
from  the  second  German  edition,  by  Frederick 
Prime,  Jr.,  Mining  Engineer,  and  revised  by  the  au- 
thor, with  numerous  illustrations.  8vo,  cloth 4  oo 

URE.  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures  and  Mines  By 
Andrew  Ure,  Ai.D.  Sixth  edition,  edited  by  Robert 
Hunt,  F.  R.  d,  greatly  enlarged  and  re-written. 
London,  1872.  3  vols  8vo,  cloth,  $25.00.  Half 
Russia ;...,  375° 

BELL.  Chemical  Phenomena  of  Iron  Smelting.  An 
experimental  and  practical  examination  ol  the  cir- 
cumstances which  determine  the  capacity  of  the  Blast 
Furnace,  The  Temperature  of  the  air,  and  the 
proper  condition  of  the  Materials  to  be  operated 
upon.  By  t.  Lowthian  Bell.  8vo,  cloth 6  oo 

ROGERS.  The  Geology  of  Pennsylvania.  A  Govern- 
ment survey,  with  a  general  view  of  the  Geology  of 
the  United  States,  Essays  on  the  Coal  Formation  and 
its  Fossils,  and  a  description  of  the  Coal  Fields  of 
North  America  and  Great  Britain.  By  Henry  Dar- 
win Rogers,  late  State  Geologist  of  Pennsylvania, 
Splendidly  illustrated  with  Plates  and  Engravings  in 
the  text.  3  vols.,  410,  cloth  with  Portfolio  of  Maps.  30  oo 

BURGH.  Modern  Marine  Engineering,  applied  to 
Paddle  and  Screw  Propulsion.  Consisting  of  36 
rolored  plates,  259  Practical  Wood  Cut  Illustrations, 
and  403  pages  ol  descriptive  matter,  the  whole  being 
an  exposition  of  the  present  practice  of  James 
Watt  &  Co.,  J.  &  G.  Rennie,  R.  Napier  &  Sons, 
and  other  celebrated  firms,  by  N.  P.  Burgh,  Engi- 
neer, thick  410,  vol.,  doth,  $25.00  j  half  mor. 30  oo 

BARTOL.   Treatise  on  the  Marine  Hoilers  of  the  United 

States,    By  B.  H.  Bartol.    Illustrated,  8vo,  cloth...     150 
II 


D.  VAN  NOSTRAND'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

BOURN E.  Treatise  on  the  Steam  Engine  in  its  various 
applications  to  Mines,  Mills,  Steam  Navigation, 
Railways,  and  Agriculture,  with  the  theoretical  in- 
vestigations respecting  the  Motive  Power  of  Heat. 
and  the  proper  proportions  of  steam  engines.  Elabo- 
rate tables  of  the  right  dimensions  of  every  part,  and 
Practical  Instructions  for  the  manufacture:  and  man- 
agement of  tvery  speoies  of  Engine  in  actual  use. 
By  John  Bourne,  oeing  the  ninth  edition  of  "  A 
Treatise  on  the  Steam  Engine,"  by  the  "Artizan 
Club."  Illustrated  by  38  plates  and  546  wood  cuts. 
4to,  cloth $15  oo 

STUART.  The  Naval  Dry  Docks  of  the  United 
Sjate*.  By  Charles  B.  Stuart  late  Engineer-in-Chief 
of  the  U.  S.  Vavy.  Illustrated  with  24  engravings 
on  steel.  Fourth  edition,  cloth 6  oo 

EADS.     System   of  Naval   Defences.      Oy  James   B. 

Eads,  C.  E.,  with  10  illustrations,  410,  cloth £  oo 

FOSTER.  Submarine  Blasting  in  L'oston  Harbor, 
Massachusetts.  Removal  of  Tower  and  Corwin 
Rocks,  Ity  J.  G.  Foster,  Lieut-Col,  of  Engineers, 
U-  S.  Army.  Illustrated  with  seven  plates,  4to, 
cloth 3  50 

BARNES  Submarine  Warfare,  offensive  and  defensive, 
including  a  discussion  of  the  offensive  Torpedo  Sys- 
tem, its  effects  upon  Iron  Clad  Ship  Systems  and  in- 
fluence upon  future  naval  wars.  By  S.leut. -Com- 
mander J.  S.  Barnes,  U.  S.  NM  with  twenty  litho- 
graphic plates  and  many  wood  cuts.  Svo,  cloth.. .  o .  5  oo 

HOLLKY.  A  Treatise  on  Ordnance  and  Armor,  em- 
bracing descriptions,  discussions,  and  professional 
opinions  concerning  the  materials,  fabrication,  re- 
quirements, capabilities,  and  endurance  ot  European 
and  American  Guns,  for  Naval,  Sea  Coast,  and  Iron 
Clad  Warfare,  and  their  Rifling,  Projectiles,  and 
Breech-  Loading;  also,  results  of  experiments  against 
armor,  from  official  records,  with  an  appendix  refer- 
ring to  Gun  Cotton,  Hooped  Guns,  etc.,  etc.  By 
Alexander  L.  Holley,  B.  P.,  948  pages,  493  engrav- 
ings, and  147  Tables  of  Results,  etc  ,  3vo,  half  roan.  10  oo 
12 


D.  VAN  NOSTBAND  S  PUBLICATIONS. 


SIMMS.  A  Treatise  on  the  Principles  and  Practice  of 
Levelling,  showing  its  application  to  purposes  6f 
Railway  Engineering  and  the  Construction  of  Roads, 
&c.  By  Frederick  W.  Simms,  (J.  E.  From  the  5th 
London  edition,  revised  and  corrected,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  Mr.  Laws's  Practical  Examples  for  setting 
out  Railway  Curves.  Illustrated  with  three  Litho- 
graphic plates  and  numerous  wood  cuts.  8vo,  cloth.  $2  50 

BURT.  Key  to  the  Solar  Compass,  and  Surveyor's 
Companion  ;  comprising  all  the  rules  necessary  for 
use  in  the  field ;  also  description  of  the  Linear  Sur- 
veys and  Public  Land  System  of  the  United  States, 
Notes  on  the  Barometer,  suggestions  for  an  outfit  for 
a  survey  of  four  months,  etc  By  W.  A .  Hurt,  U.  S. 
Deputy  Surveyor.  Second  edition.  Pocket  book 
form,  tuck 2  50 

THE  PLANE  TABLE.  Its  uses  in  Topographical 
Surveying,  from  the  Papers  of  the  U.  t\  Coast  Sur- 
vey. Illustrated,  8vo,  cloth 2  «o 

11  This  worK  gives  a   description  of  the  Plane  Table,  employed  at  the 
U.  S.  Coast  fvirvey  office,  and  the  manner  of  using  it." 

JEFFER'S.  Nautical  Surveying  By  W.  N.  Jeffers, 
Captain  U.  S.  Navy.  Illustrated  with  9  copperplates 
and  31  wood  cut  illustrations.  8vo,  cloth 5  oo 

CHAUVENET.  New  method  of  correcting  Lunar  Dis- 
tances, and  improved  method  of  Finding  the  error 
and  rate  of  a  chronometer,  by  equal  altitudes.  By 
W.  Chauvenet,  LL  D.  8vo,  cloth 200 

BRUNNOW.  Spherical  Astronomy.  By  F.  Brunnow, 
Ph.  Dr.  Translated  by  the  author  from  the  second 
German  edition.  8vo,  cloth 650 

PEIRCE.  System  of  Analytic  Mechanics.  By  Ben- 
jamin Peirce.  410,  doth 10  oo 

•COFFIN.     Navigation  and  Nautical  Astronomy.     Pre- 
pared for  the  use  of  the  U.  S.  Naval  Academy.     By  * 
Prof.  J  H.  ;  •.  Coffin.  Fifth  edition.  52  wood  cut  illus- 
trations.    1 2inos  cloth 3  50 

13 


D.  VAN  NOSTRAND  8  PUBLICATIONS. 


CLARK.  Theoretical  Navigation  and  Nautical  Astron- 
omy. By  Lieut  Lewis  Clark,  U.  S.  N.  Illustrated 
with  41  wood  cuts,  Svo,  cloth $3  oo 

HASKINS.  The  Galvanometer  and  its  Uses.  A  Man- 
ual for  Electricians  and  Students.  By  C.  H.  Has- 
kins.  i2mo,  pocket  form,  morocco.  (In  press) 

GOUGE.  New  System  of  Ventilation,  which  has  been 
thoroughly  tested,  under  the  patronage  of  many  dis- 
tinguished persons.  By  Henry  A.  Gouge.  With 
many  illustrations.  Svo,  cloth 200 

BECK  WITH.  Observations  on  the  Materials  and 
Manufacture  of  Terra-Cotta,  Stone  Ware,  Fire  Brick, 
Porcelain  and  Encaustic  Tiles,  with  remarks  on  the 
products  exhibited  at  the  London  International  Exhi- 
bition, 1871.  By  Arthur  Heckwith,  C.  E.  8vo, 
paper 60 

MORFIT.  A  Practical  Treatise  on  Pure  Fertilizers,  and 
the  chemical  conversipn  of  Rock  Guano,  Marlstones, 
Coprolites  and  the  Crude  Phosphates  of  Lime  and 
Alumina  generally,  into  various  valuable  products. 
By  Campbell  Morfit,  M.D.,  with  28  illustrative  plates, 
8vo,  cloth 20  or» 

BARNARD.  The  Metric  System  of  Weights  and 
-  Measures.  An  address  delivered  before  the  convoca- 
tion of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  at 
Albany,  August,  iS7i.  By  F-  A  P.  Barnard,  LL.D., 
President  of  Columbia  College,  New  York.  Second 
edition  from  the  revised  edition,  printed  for  the  Trus- 
tees of  Columbia  College.  Tinted  paper,  Svo,  cloth  3  oo 


Report  on  Machinery  and  Processes  on  the  In- 


dustrial Arts  and  Apparatus  of  the  Exact  Sciences. 
By  F.  A.  P.  Barnard,  LL.  D.  Paris  Universal  Ex 
position,  1867.  Illustrated,  Svo,  cloth 5  < 

BARLOW.  Tables  of  Squares,  Cubes,  Square  Roots, 
Cube  Roots,  Reciprocals  of  all  integer  numbers  up  frc 
10,000.  New  edition,  i2tno,  cloth 2 

14 


UNIVEESITY  OF  CALIFOBN 
BEEKELEY 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  1 
STAMPED  BELOW 

Books  not  returned  on  time  are  subj' 
50c  per  volume  after  the  third  day  over< 
to  $1.00  per  volume  after  the  sixth  day. 
demand  may  be  renewed  if  application  5 
expiration  of  loan  period. 


SEP  25  193 
$E(>  26  193 


BY 

HI,. 


IND 

of 


ND 
PS. 

ted. 

OF 

VN 

E. 

I  for 

ION 

uon- 
[By 
ally 


GENERAL  LIBRARY  -  U.C.  BERKELEY 


NO.   43.  — 


J.  UUIlitlS 


No.  44. 

No.  45. 
No.  4H. 


No.  63.- 


Craig,  of  Johns  Hopkins  University. 
-TURBINE  WHEELS.    By  Prof.  W.  P.  Trowbridge. 
-THERMODYNAMICS.     By  Prof.  H.  T.  Eddy. 
-ICE-MAKING  MACHINES.  From  the  French  of  M. 

Le  Doux.    Illustrated. 
LINKAGES;    the   Different  Forms   and    Uses    of 

Articulated  Links.    By  J.  D.  C.  De  Roos. 
-THEORY  OF  SOLID  AND  BRACED  ARCHES.  By 

Wm.  Cain,  C.  E. 

-ON   THE   MOTION   OF  A   SOLID   IN  A  FLUID. 
'3y  Thomas  Craig,  Ph.  D. 
1  CELLING  HOUSES  :  their  Sanitary  Const 
nd  Arrangements.    By  Prof.  W.  H.  • 
^   TELESCOPE  :     Its    Construction,    & 
omasNola*!- 

INARY  QUANTITIES  :  Tra- 
vel) of  M .  Argand .    By  Prof . 
TTION  COILS  :  How  Made  a 
ATICS  OF  MACHINERY. 
With  an  introduction  by  1 
GASES.    By  A .  De  Varona . 
ACTUAL  LATERAL  PRESS  UR 
RK .    By  Benj .  Baker,  M .  Inst .  C 
^DESCENT  ETECTRIC  LIGHTS 
Du  Moncel  and  Wm.  Henry  Free*. 

VENTILATION  OF  COAL  MINI 

ley,  M.  E.,  F.  S.  S 

;OAD   ECONOMICS  ;    or,  Notes,   wit; 
3.    By  S.  W.  Robinson,  C.  E. 
GTH  OF  WROUGHT  IRON  BRIDG1 
By  S.  W.  Robinson,  C.  E. 
!  WATER,  and  the  Different  Met 
^ecting  Impurities.    By  Chas.  W.  Folk* 
THE    THEORY    OF     THE    GAS     ENGIN 

r     *ald  Clerk. 

HOU1E  DRAIN'     ^    AND    SANITARY    I 
rhard. 

By  Th.  du  Moncel. 
TO    FOUR   PLACES    Oi 


VCHINERY.    By  Silvanus 
P.  J.  Flynn. 


No.  64.- 
No.  65.- 

No.  66  —  DYNAr 
P.  T> 

No.  67.— HYDRA 

No.  68  —STEAM  HE-   iIlsG.     Jy  Robert  Briggs 
No.  69^^HEMICAL  PROBLEMS.    By  Prof.  Foye. 
No.  TO.^EXPLOSIVE  MATERIALS.    By  M.  P.  E.  Berthelot. 

18mo,  boards,  50  cents  each. 

ty  Sent  free  by  mail  on  receipt  of  price . 

D,  YAN  NOSTRAND,  Publisher,  23  Murray  &  27  Warren  sts,,  N.  Y, 


VAN  NOSTRANmSJCIENCE  SERIES, 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  Publisher  of  this  Series  to 
issue  them  at  intervals  of  about  a  month.  They  will 
be  put  up  in  a  uniform,  neat,  and  attractive  form, 
18mo  size,  and  will  be  sold  at  50  ceiiss  each.  The 
subjects  will  be  of  an  eminently  Scientific  charactei, 
and  embrace  as  wide  a  range  of  topics  as  possible,  all 
of  the  very  highest  order. 

No.  l.-CHIMNEYS  FOR  FURNACES,  FIRE- 
PLACES,  AND  STEAM  BOILERS.  By 
R.  ARMSTRONG,  C.  E. 

No.  2.— STEAM  BOILER  EXPLOSIONS.    By  ZE- 

^H   COLBURN. 

No.  3—  PRACTICAL^  DESIGNING  OF  RETAIN- 
ING WALLS.  By  ARTHUR  JACOB,  A.  B. 

No.  4.— PROPORTIONS  OF  PINS  USED  IN 
BRIDGES.  By  CHARLES  BENDER,  C.  E. 

No.  5.— VENTILATION  OF  BUILDINGS.  By  W. 
F.  BUTLER. 

No.  6.— ON  THE  DESIGNING  AND  CONSTRUC- 
TION OF  STORAGE  RESERVOIRS. 
By  ARTHUR  JACOB,  A.  B. 

No.  7.— SURCHARGED  A.  N  D  DIFFERENT 
FORMS  OF  RETAINING  WALLS. 
By  J^ES  S.  TATE,  C.  E. 

No.  8.— A    TREATISE    ON     THE    COMPOUND 

ENGINE.    By  JOHN  TURNBULL,  Jr. 
N.  B. — Other  works  are  in  preparation. 
*#*  Sent  free  by  mail  on  receipt  of  price. 


